Reid pulled ahead and caught me as I stumbled, crying. The other two, much older than Reid and I, continued on with a sort of enraged expression that I’d never seen from either of them. Both of them held wicked axes that looked sharp and ready. Both had bows strung over their shoulders.

  “You’re okay. Thank the heavens, you’re okay,” Reid was saying as he held me.

  For a moment, his arms felt wonderfully safe, but then I realized that Tom and Fred, two of my favorite people, we’re rushing to fight that thing.

  “Tom! I-It’s blinded! Kill it before it gets back to its feet!” I screamed, before turning back to the boy holding me.

  “R-Reid! It’s huge. G-go. Help your dad and the smith. I’ll b-be okay!”

  Reid looked torn, tearing his eyes from me to look after his father, then back to me.

  “You’re sure?”

  “We’re all in danger if that thing lives, right!? Kill it!”

  “I’ll get her back to town, Reid,” came Hadra’s voice as she ran up. Had she followed them back here? I was touched by the show of bravery.

  Reid, faced with both assurances, gently let me go while Hadra grasped me in a hug. He took off at a dead sprint, determined to catch up with his father and help if he could.

  “Fuck… f-fuck,” I breathed as Hadra tried to get me moving back towards the village. My ribs hurt like hell. I let my eyes linger on Reid as he ran, hoping he’d be okay. I may not want to marry the boy but fuck if he hadn’t earned some brownie points today.

  As we walked, I slowly realized I was shaking. The day had been so… so normal. So peaceful. How had everything suddenly exploded so quickly?

  “Are you okay, Mera?” Hadra asked, out of breath herself.

  “I think so. You should… heh. Y-you should see the other guy,” I joked.

  “How did you blind it?” she asked. “I was too scared to do anything but run!”

  “Y-you know how your eyes tear up when you eat hot peppers?” I replied. Explaining something. Yeah. That helped. That made this feel a little more normal. My heart was still racing.

  “You hot peppered it?” she asked incredulously.

  “S-super hot peppered,” I stammered.

  A loud bellow suddenly sounded from where we’d come.

  You participated in the death of a War Troll!

  Level up!

  You’ve reached level 15.

  “I… It’s dead. I got a level from that.”

  “Good,” Hadra said sharply.

  I couldn’t stop shaking but we ignored the sound as we did our best to make our way back to town.

  We didn’t make it far before half the village reached us, my Mom first among them. She had a blanket, which I was grateful for. I didn’t really understand why. It was a scorching hot day for early autumn, so why was I so fucking cold?

  More men and a few higher leveled women followed Tom and Fred, but it seemed like almost half the town showed up to slowly escort me back to the bar.

  The bar wasn’t a bar like I’d thought of one when I was April. Yes, there was certainly alcohol, but it was more than that. The bar was where singing happened, and dancing too. It was where I told stories to tired farmers, and listened to other people’s stories as well. Holidays like the Winter Bake and the Summer Freeze were all celebrated there, right in the middle of town.

  It was also apparently where terrified girls were brought and fed warm tea while recovering from the shock of a troll attack.

  Mom was fretting over me, and I realized suddenly that I’d been ignoring her. Just basking in the warm blanket and trying to stop shaking. I’d only been attacked like that before once.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  I’d died.

  “M-Mom. I’m okay,” I assured her, and she let loose a breath of tight air, relaxing as I finally swam my way out of old thoughts and old memories.

  “Get out of the way, get out of the way!” came a knobbly old voice. Normuran Healer. He always said his last name was Preschot, from the Duchy of Preschot, wherever that was. He lived here now though, and here, what you did was what you were called. So. Norman Healer.

  Occasionally Moron Healer, to those people he pissed off. I’d always liked him though, and suddenly I was glad I’d never been one of the kids who’d played pranks on him. He had a bit of an ego, but he loved the theatrics in my stories. Always showed up at the bar to hear me whenever he could.

  “Normuran, thank you for coming,” Mom said.

  The man’s irritated frown melted into soft concern as he knelt down in front of me. He regarded my mom with kind eyes. “A whole herd of war trolls couldn’t keep me from helping your little one, Atrinaska.”

  I smiled a little as he turned back to me. “Now… shakes, yes? Did it manage to hurt you?”

  I nodded. “Grabbed me. Around the chest. I-it’s fingers were like boulders. Crushed my ribs a bit. Threw me, and I hit my shoulder. It could’ve been a lot worse though. I was okay to move. To walk. B-breathing… hurts. A little. A-and I’m cold.”

  I tried to be as concise as possible. That was supposed to be helpful, right?

  He frowned. Probably observing me.

  He suddenly held out his hand and, unlike the red light from my household magic, his hand suddenly glowed green. Healing magic.

  It only lasted a few moments, but I almost felt my insides unclenching as the green light washed over me. An aching pressure in my chest suddenly evaporated, though I hadn’t even realized it was there.

  Norman slumped over after the light faded but quickly righted himself before pulling out a small leather bag with a buckle. Inside it were a bunch of pouches. He selected one that was cinched shut with a red thread, opened it, and poured a bit of powder into my tea.

  “This is a pain reliever. It’s mostly tasteless, but I’ll mix it into your tea here. It should dull the ache in your ribs and shoulder, and it might make you a bit sleepy. Unfortunately, they will hurt for a few days, but you should be fine. I healed the worst of the damage.”

  “Worst of it? Not all of it?” Mom asked anxiously.

  Norman turned, scowling at all the gawkers who had piled into the inn. Out of respect for the healer, they kept a small distance, but I could tell everyone wanted to know what had happened.

  I didn’t blame them as I looked over the crowd. Most of them were staring at me with worried eyes. Mularet, the Carpenter, and Eysee and Elsee, the twins, both two years from getting their own talents, had fearful expressions. Burnom, the lout, was usually completely drunk, but right now, his eyes were clear and filled to the brim with worry. For me?

  Even the mayor, Dobretin, was there, looking absolutely livid, when he wasn’t looking at me with concern.

  “She was bleeding inside. She’s lucky she’s alive,” Norman said softly.

  My eyes widened. I’d… been bleeding internally? Scary. I was suddenly doubly thankful that this world had magic. I wondered if doctors could’ve handled that as easily as magic had?

  A commotion started outside, and about half of the people in the bar turned to the door. A few of them ignored that, taking the opportunity to approach me instead.

  “Are you okay, Mera?” Eysee asked fearfully.

  “I’m fine,” I said, trying to be reassuring. The healing had helped, but I still felt inordinately cold, so I pulled the blanket around me a little tighter. “I do want to know where that troll came from, though. Are there more of them? O-oh no! What about my lab!?”

  Norman chuckled, and my Mom joined him.

  “She’ll be just fine,” he said happily, a hand on my shoulder preventing me from springing out of my chair.

  As if given permission, my mom nearly tackled me in a hug. “You stupid girl! I told you not to go out to that lab, and you did it anyway! What would I have done without you!? And your father…! And the day before your Eighteenth…!”

  “...’m okay mom… I’m sorry,” I mumbled into her shoulder. And I really was. Not that I’d gone out to the lab but that now my lab was certainly going to be off limits for an eternity. Still… better this than that Troll making it to the village without anyone noticing.

  Without noticing…

  How the hell had a Troll gotten here? The war was supposed to be more than a hundred miles away. It didn’t sound all that far when I thought about cars, but without them it might as well be another country.

  All my life this place had been safe. Pemolar’s Hill was a good home. A great place to grow up, if a little boring. The lab was my refuge and now… Now it wasn’t. Panic threatened to rise but I quelled it with a burst of anger.

  That fucking pissed me off.

  How dare this place not be safe? Half of the village kids decided to join the military at sixteen when they were allowed to, with the expectation that they’d gain more skills for a better talent, while sending money home to their families. The expectation for that sacrifice, that risk, was that places so far from the rift would be safe!

  And yet a troll had made it all the way here?

  Distant memories of a life ended abruptly fluttered passed my mind as my breath started to quicken. My hand drifted to my throat.

  That moment, a soldier in gleaming armor stepped into the bar.