It was a beautiful winter. I handed my responsibilities to Weaden and the other leaders, then enjoyed the home I had founded for my family. Kai and the family ate food at a restaurant called Rika’s Stacks, which sold hamburgers. I had once made an off remark to the owner about how ground meat and on round buns would make them a fortune. Two years later, I found myself in a packed house eating one. We enjoyed the taste of home, then walked through the town, enjoying the string lights that glittered above the winter festival.

  It was always summer in Wraithwood city limits, a virtue of the grand ward over the city that regulated the atmosphere. Thus, flowers still lined the commercial district the festival was taking place in.

  I couple spun past us as we walked, swing dancing to the sound of stringed instruments. A father put their son, who had just bought a cup of candied berries, onto his shoulders as they searched for games. Somehow, in just five years, Wraithwood had developed a true festival with vendors, games, and musicians.

  Tyler and I watched in wonder, commenting on how quickly we had become a society over a round of drinks, enjoying the festivities to the fullest.

  On another day we enjoyed a play, a third a concert; it felt so slow, but then I blinked and a full week had passed.

  I blinked again and found myself back on that strip, this time standing in a stunning white and blue dress as I watched Felio walk down the strip in white. It was the day of her wedding, an event that felt so sudden—so jarring—as if Felio met some man while I was in the Fifth Ring and decided to get hitched in a shotgun wedding. But I knew it wasn’t. I had heard about him in off-topic conversation, but in my endless pursuit of strength and leadership, I had never met him, losing track of my best friend’s life—never sharing in her joys. It left me feeling meloncholy until I saw her staring at me, flashing me an overwhelmed smile—on the verge of tears as she approached her husband to be.

  I teared up, flashing her a bright smile as I watched her overwhelming joy. It filled me with overwhelming emotions, and also a bittersweet ache of despair, knowing that someone had robbed my precious Felio from me. I wanted her all to myself, but when I saw the way she cried and kissed him, I realized that there were many precious aspects to life, and she deserved all of them. So, I cut the cake, and made a grand toast, not complaining once about wearing the elaborate dress they insisted on me wearing. This was her big day, and I wanted to help her celebrate.

  That night, I returned home and enjoyed a nice home-dinner cooked by Kai, sharing a blanket with him on a sofa after, both sipping tea to the sound of crackling fire.

  Kline curled on the arm chair beside us—Sina, Dain, and Rynsnuggled at our feet.

  It was modest, but we had a life. A family. A relationship. It made me a bit emotional.

  “You know… It doesn’t feel like it, but we’ve been together for a very, very long time,” I said. “It’s been what… three years?”

  “Yeah, something like that,” Kai said.

  “God, we’re bad at this.”

  “I don’t know about that,” he said, throwing his arm around my shoulder. “I suppose thing’ve never been exactly passionate, but things’ve never been poor, either. I can’t speak for you, but I’ve enjoyed our relationship.”

  I smiled and snuggled my head into his chest. “Me, too.”

  He rested his ear onto the top of my head. “What brought this upon? Felio trigger wedding fever, or something?”

  “No… It’s just… you deserve it. And while normal couples can push it off an extra year…”

  “Nah…” Kai said. “I’m kinda a believer that when you’re comfortable, you shouldn’t change position. You know?”

  “So you’re happy the way things are? And you aren’t just saying that because it’s easier?”

  Kai laughed. “You can’t ask two questions where a yes and a no are both required. Yes, I’m happy. No, I’m not just saying that.” He looked toward the ceiling, as if searching for the sky. “I cherish it. And if I had my way, I wouldn’t change something that’s working, and pray things didn’t fall apart.”

  I swallowed. “You won’t have regrets? Even if things go to hell?”

  “I’ll never have regrets.”

  I listened to his heartbeat, finding it consistent as a flowing stream. It was equally calm that night when we lay in bed, holding each other close. I listened to it like a melody, using it as a metronome to guide me into sleep.

  I dressed before dawn the next morning, letting Kai and the lurvine sleep as Kline and I took our stroll through the town, reminding ourselves what was at stake.

  Wraithwood.

  What had once been a naive, rebellious “fuck you” to the aliens that destroyed Earth had somehow turned into a eight square mile city of five story apartment complexes cut between trees. My small tree house now sat in a mile-long stretch of businesses that were opening before dawn. Bakers hauled flour from the storehouses, as military personel jogged through town on their morning workout. Soon, men and women would bustle to work to make a living—all creating and exchanging, contributing to the society they were building for their children. I walked a bit further and stopped in front of a public playground, imagining the toddlers that I saw there just a few days ago. This was their home—their future—and yet it was so fragile—teetering on the edge of destructive.

  One slip up—one failed breach: that’s all it would take to raze our city to the ground—stealing our life from us and our children forever.

  “You know, I refuse to say I appreciate human civilization,” a voice said behind me, “but this one isn’t too bad.”

  I turned and saw Kyro, fluttering around drunkenly, drinking from his tiny flask.

  “Kyro!” I cried, reaching for him.

  “No~pe,” he said, dodging me.

  I cast Moxle Dilation and grabbed him with both hands like a Barbie doll, ignoring his squirming as I held him to my bosom.

  He yelled, “Hey!” but I said, “I missed you,” and he calmed down until I let him go.

  Stolen story; please report.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked.

  He looked away grumpily. “I’m just lettin’ you know that the Drokai are helping out this spring. We’re helping you plant the new bramble.”

  My eyes shone, smiling beaming. “Really?”

  “Yep~,” he said. “Bringing the nastiest seeds we can, too. I think… people’ve finally come around. A lot of us still don’t trust human colonies of this size—and that’s natural. But… we’re trusting you. So… don’t let us down, okay?”

  I nodded. “I won’t.”

  The following week, when the last of winter’s snow had melted, and the military was doing drills in the wilderness, Wraithwood citizens giggled in glee when they saw hundreds of one-foot pixies flying over the city, making their grand entrance and presence well known.

  I smiled in awe as we loaded up.

  Aiden had brought out an army of beasts, preparing to transport hundreds of farmers, alchemists, arraymasters, and military personel to the mouth of the bramble to plant our deadly additions.

  Trant, my alchemist pixie friend, sat on Sina’s head as we trudged along, pointing at plants and giving factoids as Felio and Jaylin rode close to listen in.

  Kai listened from behind me, hands wrapped around my waist as Reta lay in my lap.

  Cassain, Asail, Malo—Felio, Aiden, and Kline.

  Wraithwood’s founding members rode side-by-side, making the trip to the harvest site for the twelveth time. When we came here we were weak—facing blight and sickness and poison. Now, we commanded an army, each riding beasts whose paws left massive prints in the soil beside budding perennials and sprawling ground cover.

  We were now children of the forest—joining the Drokai’s timeless tradition of protecting the lands that countless humans thought could defend themself.

  The group reached the bramble two days later and set to work.

  Soldiers pitched tents and hunted for food while our teams spread out to work on the new bramble. Felio, Jaylin, and the other plant specialist surveyed the land as beasts dug holes and farmers planted seeds.

  Arraymasters buried wards that regulated environmental variables, allowing allow plants to grow unnaturally—at least until the plants could take root on their own. Others set wards that protected the soil from being annihilated with magic or elements—a key feature of Brindle’s Bramble.

  Drokai worked tirelessly with Reta to create illusory wards, working with soldiers who moved boulders to create real obstacles for their funnelling techniques.

  If the illusions didn’t lead people to danger—natural barriers would.

  As for me, I nurtured the seeds with Brindle’s magic—helping them take root and grow with the aid of magic and soul force.

  We worked all spring—and then, as Thorvel and the wyverns dug a nest in the center of our new twenty mile network of plants, I scanned our work. My magic had accelerated their growth, leading to full sprouted plants and small bushes and two-foot trees.

  Kai stared at the humble scene with me, a hint of unease gripping his expression. “Is this going to be enough?” he asked.

  “Oh, this is worse than ‘enough.’” I laughed. “Right now, the Harvest site doesn’t look much different than it used to. And that’s a good thing. A full wave’ll stroll right into it before people start getting sick.”

  “That’s dark,” he said.

  “You act like we’re ambushing them,” I said. “If they follow the rules for the next forever, there won’t be a single casualty.”

  He smiled grimly. “Well, there’s that.”

  “Come on. Let’s go. Felio and I have an auction to prepare for.”

  The auction I spoke of was Elana’s Forbidden Elixir Auction, which was taking place the night of Brexton’s information auction. It was set on the same date to break the momentum of Brexton’s auction by putting our own spin, warnings, and declarations on what was sure to be a sensational story. To me, it was only one part of my strategy to protect the forest, but Elana didn’t see it that way.

  “It’s summer,” Elana snapped, standing before Felio, and a warehouse full of nervous alchemists who couldn’t believe they were speaking to a god. “There are three months—three months—until this auction. You do understand that this is the difference between success and failure for your campaign, yes?”

  Elana didn’t have to remind me. This auction could be the ultimate difference between success and failure of the war, as it was my chance to obtain a legendary reward—and mobilize gods for my army. That said—

  “Hard work won’t make a difference,” I said. “But this will.” I unzippled large duffle bags on a nearby table, unzipping them to reveal over a thousand jars full of plants, roots, and fungi.

  “What are those?” Elana asked, eyes flickering with interest.

  “Alchemical herbs from the Fifth Ring,” I said. “I spent six weeks this year obtaining them while obtaining seeds. Plus…” I stopped, deciding to leave out that the Drokai gave me precious ingredients. “Anyway, I’ve used plant magic to identify the unknown plants’ compounds, so we can make new elixirs with confidence.

  “Drokai alchemists are coming to help out with the ones I don’t know about. So they can answer your questions.”

  Elana stared at me blankly.

  “So… can you forgive me?” I asked.

  Elana’s suprised eyebrows snapped into an obtuse V. “When was the last time you wore makeup?”

  My eyes deadened.

  She smirked snidely, scoffed, and turned away, mumbling, “Doesn’t do anything I say, then proceeds to bribe me.”

  “Did it work?” I mused.

  Elana looked at me from the corner of her eye. “I refuse to answer that question. Now, let’s get to work.”

  I separated the ingredients, summoning Lithco and Trant to identify plants and use cases. Elana didn’t comment on Trant’s knowledge, but I could tell that she was impressed (if only for what he accomplished as a “mortal.”)

  “This will do,” Elana said. “Felio.”

  “Yes, ma’am?” Felio asked nervously. “If you salvage the nightmare my apprentice has wrought upon our future, I will grant you my patronage as well.”

  Felio’s eyes trembled and welled with tears. “I-I-I…”

  “Say, yes, Mistress,” I whispered in her ear. “I will serve you with the profound obsequiousness you’re accustomed to.”

  “And I’ll drop Mira,” Elana drawled.

  Felio’s eyes panicked. “No! I won’t do it then!”

  My heart welled with emotions as I looked at her. I thought that she’d lose that loyalty and love for me as soon as she was married, but it seemed I was wrong. “You’re precious,” I said, smiling gently. “Elana’s just joking. If I left, there’d be no one to treat her like a human. It’d just be another millennia of ass kissing and power plays.” I hugged Felio. “Come on, let’s do this.”

  Elana’s stern face expressed that she was grumpy that I told her what she’d do, but she didn’t contradict me. I smirked and we got to work, organizing teams to handle different plants and compounds before joining Felio for the mixing process..

  The chimes came in one after the other. The first was satisfying.

  Congratulations! You have created the unique elixir “Wraith’s Purity.” Your name has been added to the annals of history as a pioneer crafter. Would you like to make a public announcement?

  “Yes,” I said with a grin.

  Elana grinned when all the alchemist classes in the universe got a notification.

  Scion Mira Hill, Neophyte Felio Helara, and God Elana Saliea have created an elixir that contains previously unknown ingredients and compounds, a vast accomplishment in a multiverse that has housed 156 septillion alchemists over the ages. Their names have been added to the annals of history as pioneer crafters.