After the trio had shared a breakfast, Matt picked up his loom and asked Arlee and Kira to accompany him upstairs. He ushered them to the far side of the bed, away from the distortion which was clearly visible now he held his weaving frame.

  “Can either of you see anything out of place in the room?” He asked, curious to test his theory.

  Kira shook her head. Arlee looked about more carefully, before responding. “No, nothing at all.”

  “Please, both of you fetch your special objects and bring them here.”

  Arlee picked up her bag from the clothes rack by the bed, and Kira dashed to the next room to grab the large tome that had become their font of knowledge. She returned quickly, moving to stand at her mother’s side.

  “What about now? Does anything seem out of place, or unusual?”

  “Only that you’re acting more weird than normal Dad.” Kira remarked with a smirk. “What’s with the Mister Mysterious act?”

  Wordlessly, Arlee nodded. With a shaking finger, she pointed precisely toward the wavering anomaly just over the bed.

  Matt smiled, the theory proven. He had been hoping that maybe – as he experienced when holding the loom – when they held their own personal objects, they might be able to see the distortions, and Arlee’s response had born this out.

  “Kira – you remember the passage in the book about loci?”

  She flipped the book open and read. “A Locus (plural: loci) is a physical manifestation of significant connection for an individual to a specific location, event, emotion or action. Those with the capability to observe a manifestation may attune to it, creating a bond to the energy residue of the occurrence. This has the effect of optimising mental clarity, strengthening external arcanic expression and imbuing greater transfer of energy during arcanic creation.”

  Matt nodded. “There was a locus in the kitchen below, which I was able to connect to… attune to, as the book says. I need to test to make sure, but it sounds like it will make my patches more powerful, the more loci I conne… attune to. I barely was able to see it initially, but when I picked my loom up, it was much clearer – just like when you picked up your bag Arl.”

  His wife looked curious but kept listening.

  “Why can’t I see it, Dad? I’ve got my book, and I know all about them now!” Kira’s voice took on a smidgeon of the whiney quality that parents everywhere knew and loathed.

  “Read the passage again Kira – ‘a physical manifestation of significant connection for an individual to a specific location’. What your Mum and I are seeing is the physical manifestation – the thing that can be seen. You can’t see if because you don’t have a significant connection to that location – that place. We do.”

  “What connection?” Her voice was more curious now. “Does snuggling and smooching count? That seems a bit… I dunno… normal?”

  Arlee gave a musical laugh as she moved to her husband and took his hand in her own. “The greatest connection of all, my daughter. The creation of life through love.” She looked up at Matt with affection.

  “The what? Like… eeewwww… you mean…? Gross, urgh… Errr, leaving now!”

  The two adults laughed as their progeny fled the room and its now undeniable evidence of romance. While Kira was aware of attraction, and sex education classes at school let everyone her age know about the technical processes involved in childbirth, she wasn’t yet at the level of maturity to consider the concepts in relation to herself. She reacted perfectly normally for someone her age and decide it was gross and never something she would ever have to put up with.

  The couple shared another smile, before turning back to regard the locus. Arlee regarded it for a little while, before asking “Does it look like gentle green lightning to you?”

  “It does, but the one downstairs had a red tinge to it, so maybe the colour depends on the type of… event that caused them to… that created them?”

  “Wait, down in the kitchen? What connection did you have there? A really good tray of lasagna or tiffin?” She nudged him in the ribs, smiling playfully.

  He gave a small, strained smile. “The rat. My first life or death struggle.”

  Her face fell, but she leaned in close and held him tight. “And hopefully your last my darling, though that might be wishful thinking in this new world.”

  He nodded, equally unconvinced. “When I… attuned to the one downstairs, it felt like… it was… indescribable really. It was intense, and the was some pain, but so instantaneous that it was gone before I knew it.”

  “And you think it will make your weaving, your patches stronger, yes? Like more light, or… “ She frowned at the memory of seeing him hacking away at his own armoured sleeve in maniacal glee. “…stronger protection?”

  “That’s my hope, yes. But if you can see it, maybe you can attune to it as well.”

  She shrank back slightly. “What would that do?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t know. Kira’s book mentioned improved mental clarity, arcanic creation something – I think that’s what my patches are – arcanic creation. Magical making stuff. Whether it will let you do other new stuff, or affect how you use your bag maybe? I just don’t know.”

  “So, are you going to… attune to this one as well?”

  “Yup, sure am! I want that awesome magic power goodness!”

  She rolled her eyes. “Boys and their toys. Well, get on with it then Tapper!”

  Matt sniggered. “Yes Ma’am! Attuning now Ma’am!” He turned, stepped forward and grasped the core of the lightning distortion.

  In doing so, Matt was reminded in all too vivid terms of how life lessons occur throughout the whole period of living, not just the early years. Sometimes, as much as a person can set expectations and prepare for something, the universe just blows a raspberry at them and does its own thing.

  He had prepared for the jolt of intense sensation, but was shaken to his core as the sensation roared into him, overwhelming his senses and locking muscles in place, face frozen in a silent rictus. The pain was so much greater, he tried to scream but could not manage even that.

  Arlee screamed at her husband’s unexpected reaction, but within seconds, the white-knuckled grip released, and his body flopped down onto the bed as if completely boneless. She rushed to him, scrambling across the large bed, and struggled to turn him into a recovery position.

  “Matt! Matt! Can you hear me? Kira! Run and get Carry, quick!”

  “No.” His voice was quiet, but clear. “She doesn’t go outside alone. I’m okay, get me up.”

  By this time, Kira had rushed in from her room and helped get Matt into a seated position against the headboard. He slumped against it and groaned at the swirling energy inside him. It seemed to be battling the energy from the first attunement. This swiftly faded though, as the competing forces seemed to find their place around each other and settle into harmony.

  “That hurt so much worse than last time.” Colour was returning to his face, and his voice was steadier as the remnants of the shocking experience faded away.

  “What happened Matt? I thought you said ‘some pain’ and ‘instantaneous’. Not ‘grabbed a power socket and almost getting fried’!” She looked torn between concern and wanting to knock some sense into him.

  “I don’t know, maybe different colours have different effects? Kira, what does the book say?”

  The youngster rushed back next door and returned promptly, carrying the heavy book. She focused and turned to a random page, finger following the line as she read.

  “Arcanic practitioners may attune to multiple loci if available and will realise improvements in mental clarity and the power of their arcanic creations for each successful attunement. Each new attunement places increasing strain upon the practitioner in order to complete the process successfully.”

  “This feels like a cheat code for the world.” Matt said as Kira finished her recital. He thought for a moment, before reaching over to take a hand from each of them. “And that’s why it needs to be kept secret. I’m sure there are other people still left out there, but I don’t want anyone outside us and the Brands knowing about Kira’s book, understood?” He looked between their faces with a serious expression.

  Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  “Why Dad?”

  “Because it’s a different world now. I don’t know if there are going to be police anymore, or laws, but even if there are… some people will take what they want. I don’t want people trying to take your book for themselves, so best that they never find out about it.”

  “But they can’t read it, can they? You and Mum couldn’t!”

  “They don’t know that. And if they find out, they may decide to try and take you along with the book and make you use it for them.”

  Kira looked shocked and scared. Arlee was shaken by the grim pronouncement but reached out to hold her daughter.

  “But that won’t happen my love, because we’re going to keep it secret, aren’t we?”

  Kira nodded emphatically, still looking scared. Her parents gathered around and wrapped her in a protective huddle. After a few moments, she sniffled and disentangled herself.

  “I’ll go and think about what I can tell people if they ask what my thing is. Maybe a cuddly toy which comes to life! Or a… a… a headset that still plays music! Or what about a…”

  Matt and Arlee shared bemused looks as their daughter returned to her room, muttering increasingly outlandish possibilities to herself. Arlee’s expression was troubled.

  “Do you think that might happen? Might someone try to take her for her book?”

  “It’s a possibility my lovely. Alan mentioned it to me while we were fixing the back door. His evidence was largely taken from movies, but it’s not something I want to ignore, now that we’re living in some kind of magical, non-zombie, post-apocalypse. Better safe than sorry, eh?”

  Arlee nodded, then picked herself up and looked at the clock out of habit.

  “I’ve no idea what the time is, but we’re heading over to Carry’s to get planting today. Shall we head over now?”

  “I want to create another patch before we do, to test the difference between when I had found one locus, and now that I have two.”

  “That last one worked then, you’re…connected to it now?”

  “Attuned, yes. It’s a weird feeling, like a battery connected to part of me. I felt the first one in my arms, now they seem connected across my shoulders and chest, like a little electric current. Not painful or uncomfortable, just… energising.”

  She looked pensive for a moment, then shook her head. “I think I will hold off zapping myself for now.”

  He smiled, squeezed her hand in reassurance, and headed downstairs.

  While Kira plotted potential future subterfuge and Arlee prepared some lunch to take over to the Brands’, Matt took his loom and a candle through to the living room and sat down, preparing to make another fire patch. After laying out tools and materials, he took time to focus his mind properly, and avoid the same painful false starts he had experienced the day before.

  Whether through practice, or the improved mental clarity from his second loci attunement, he found the process of forming and holding the mental image – the burst of flame – was noticeably faster and smoother. The distractions were still there, but it was easier to keep them isolated to one side and focus on the priority.

  He lit the candle and started to work, immediately noticing a refinement of his technique in setting the warp threads, threading the weft through the resulting lines and packing them tightly together. He had seen improvement over time with his practice, but the ease with which he accomplished the task today was a measurable step up, and his work progressed quickly, smoothly guiding small streams of flame into the threads, where they settled with a rich, flickering radiance.

  As he completed the patch and sealed the edges, he felt the same sensation of completeness, stronger this time. As he tied off the remaining threads and removed the patch from the loom, he could feel a warm tingle in the fingertips holding the edges of the piece of cloth. He panicked for a moment, wondering if he had just set off a flamethrower inside the house, but calmed quickly as no fiery release took place.

  Maybe that is connected to the ‘intent’, he wondered as he packed up his stuff, slipped the finished patch into a divided plastic container with the others he had made, and prepared to become a farmer.

  Checking the surroundings and the sky above had become a familiar ritual now, whenever they needed to leave the house. ‘Building good habits’, Matt’s father would have said – one of the many pieces of small wisdom that had exemplified their relationship. Small nuggets that over time made a big difference.

  As soon as Kira stepped out of the door behind Matt, large feline forms flowed from the shadows of the doorway and alongside her, the magical appearance still making them jump. It was very comforting for Matt and Arlee to recognise that their daughter was so well protected and made it easier to focus on watching for any external threats.

  They moved over the road and were let in quickly; Alan apparently had been watching for them. Greeting the girls with a hug and Matt with a fist-bump, he showed them through to the back garden, where Carry was using a hoe to mark out rows of planting beds.

  “Good night, mate?” Alan said to Matt as they started organising the various tools for the days endeavour.

  “The night was fine, the morning was rough.” Matt replied. “The rats were back at the houses behind ours, they… they were dragging bodies out and taking them away somewhere. Or eating them on the spot.”

  Alan was uncharacteristically quiet for a moment, before squeezing Matt’s shoulder.

  “Not good, not good at all. We’re going to have to do something about them before they depopulate this place completely. Any ideas?”

  Matt nodded. “A few. I was thinking about it yesterday and this morning and have some things to test. Let’s get this done first, then check them out at lunchtime.”

  The next few hours were spent marking out planting areas, removing grass, breaking up the earth and putting down fertiliser, after which they took a break for some lunch. While the others sat around munching on some sandwiches, Matt setup a couple of stone slabs on the other side of the garden. On each of these he placed one of the fire patches he had created. He looked back to the rest of the group, suddenly unsure.

  “Actually, could you all go inside please? I’m not sure how these are going to work and even with our resident miracle healer, it’s best not to take chances, okay?”

  The others moved inside, Arlee giving Matt a worried ‘be safe’ look, before following the others and closing the door behind her. Matt turned back to the first slab, with the earlier, single-locus patch, wondering now how best to test it. He would need to be close enough to touch it, but didn’t want to be anywhere near where it was facing. In the end, he lay down in the grass, reaching out at full extension to touch the edge of the badge before snatching his hand away as fast as he could.

  Matt whispered a heartfelt prayer of thanks for his preparation, as a bright tongue of flame roared out of the badge for a few feet, lasting for a heartbeat before dying back down and flickering out. From inside the house, he could hear Alan whooping raucously, and the door flew open to release the ten-year-old pyromaniac in a grown-up’s body.

  “Mate, that was awesome! How the hell did you manage that? Can you do it again?”

  Matt sat up from his prone position, grinning in similar childlike glee. “It worked! I wasn’t sure what it would do, but that was pretty much what I wanted to go for! Back up and I’ll give it another go.”

  Alan eagerly obliged, not going back inside, but just most of the way around the corner of the house. Inside the house, Carry looked on in amusement at her man’s behaviour, while Arlee had a tight grip on Kira, who looked eager to join Uncle Alan in the exuberant jumping around.

  Matt lay back down, reached out and quickly touched his hand to the edge of the patch again, but there was no response and the patch lay inert on the slab. He sat up, shrugging as Al looked disappointedly around the corner of the house.

  Suddenly the air was ripped apart by a piercing, terrifyingly loud shriek, sounded high above. Matt’s blood froze in his veins, struggling to look up into the sky. It was the same sound they had heard while rescuing the neighbours, and it filled him with dread as his eyes lifted.

  Swooping down was a gigantic red-brown raptor, wings folded back as it plummeted from at a steep angle directly toward the garden, directly at him! Frozen in place, the terrible cry making his muscles go slack and powerless, Matt watched as doom approached – black eyes searing into him, wings blotting out the morning sun and cruel talons unfolding and reaching forward to snatch him up…

  “MATT – MOVE!”

  Alan’s shout snapped the unnatural lethargy from his body. He dove forward, instinctively reaching for the second stone slab. His hand stretched out and brushed the edge of the patch resting on it. Flames roared out, reaching into the sky, taller than he could reach if he were standing on tiptoe. The bright tongue whipped back and forth in a tight column, a concentrated pillar of destructive force.

  There was a tremendous crack as the monstrous wings flared out to arrest the diving bird’s downward plunge. Another terrifying shriek echoed off the houses, pain-filled and angry, and the revolting smell of burning feathers wafted down on a burst of smoke. Tremendous gusts of wind buffeted Matt where he huddled, arms over his head yelling wordlessly in fear, as the bird struggled to gain height and escape the tormenting pain.

  The burst of flame abruptly ended, the roaring sound cutting off and Matt’s yells continued for several more seconds, as the shrieks from the crispy fried hunter raged above, fading into the distance. Eventually the terror subsided and he uncovered his head, looking around wildly, finally realising that imminent death was no longer… imminent.

  In the window, a trio of horrified faces stared back, slack-jawed and pale. Arlee reached a trembling hand out to him, before collapsing back, hopefully into a chair. Kira and Carry clutched each other, before turning away from the window to huddle with Arlee. Matt did not look forward to the dressing down he was going to receive later.

  Sitting up, fighting down the urge to lose his breakfast, Matt looked up at the rapidly vanishing raptor, a fading trail of smoke left behind it. He made to stand but was tackled to the ground once more by Alan, as pale as the others, but strangely exuberant. Hugging Matt like he’d just scored the winning goal in the final, he was shouting in shocked glee.

  “Matt, you must have balls of solid titanium mate! Did you see the size of that thing? It must have been twenty feet across the wings and claws the size of bloody trolleys! Gods, what a monster! That scream absolutely froze me. And then you just casually set off a damn flamethrower right at it. Testiculus Giganticus move man!”

  Alan paused for a moment, taking a breath, standing up and reaching a hand down to pull Matt to his feet. The instant he was up, Arlee and Kira grabbed him, holding on tight, not saying a word.

  “Wait a mo mate, you were testing that second patch, weren’t you? You didn’t know it would do that?” Alan was oblivious to the growing horror on Arlee’s face, Matt not being fast enough to shut him up in time. He turned to look into his wife’s face.

  “I’m okay Arl, really. It didn’t get to me, and my patch works well, which gives us a potential weapon to defend ourselves with. We learned an important lesson about keeping an eye on the skies, and it helps to know something else that we’re up against.”

  Arlee looked like she couldn’t make up her mind whether to hold him or hit him, anger mixing with relief as she struggled to form words. She settled for muttering under her breath while gripping him so tightly he might never be released.

  What if it hadn’t worked, or he moved the wrong way…. The thoughts spiralled in her mind, as she sought to banish each successive catastrophic possibility.

  The tension gradually bled out of the gathering, Carry joining them while nervously keeping an eye on the sky. Oli and Lion emerged from the undergrowth around the garden borders, ears flat back against their heads as they lifted their eyes in silent vigil.

  They got back to their planting efforts, by common consent giving Matt the job of watching the sky. Thankfully no further winged threats appeared, and using the last of the water they could coax from the outdoor tap, the new beds were watered and the group retreated inside, safe from hunting giants, and with a future full of carrots.

  A faint cry from on high in the distance found their ears. Another danger had revealed itself.