“Tavris, is that really you?”

  “Please say something! Tell me this is real. Tell me I'm not alone!”

  I stare at the messages longer than I should.

  “It's really me, HH,” I reply back. “I saw the name Elkas on the status screen… I think I'm in my AoA character's body… it feels strange.”

  Her reply comes instantly, then slows.

  “Oh thank the Gods!”

  A beat.

  “I think I'm in Lyra's body too.”

  A pause.

  “Where are you? Are you safe? I need help.”

  Panic flares in my chest.

  “I’m safe,” I replied quickly. “Where are you?”

  “I’m in a place called Dawnreach. A temple to someone called the Luxar-”

  INCOMING CALL - SHADOWSTRIKE

  “HH, Shadow’s calling,” I cut in. “I’m answering. Stay with me-I’ll keep messaging.”

  Accept Call.

  “You breathing?” Shadow’s voice is calm, measured. “What’s your status?”

  “Alive. Burned something to ash a minute ago. Talking with HH-she’s in trouble.”

  “Shadow’s there too?” HH’s message cuts in. “That’s great! I mean-maybe not, if we’re trapped here.”

  “If she’s in trouble. Get her out,” Shadow says immediately. “I’m stable where I landed. Keep comms open.”

  The line goes dead.

  I let out a slow breath.

  Spells.

  The menu opens cleanly-no clutter, just what I asked for. My eyes skim until one entry stands out.

  Fly.

  “I’m getting an aerial view and then headed for Dawnreach,” I message them both. “Hold tight.”

  The world lurches.

  My legs go slack as if gravity forgot about them. My arms flail uselessly and my stomach drops hard enough that I gasp. Panic spikes-

  Then something clicks.

  Balance settles in. Control follows. Like my body has done this before.

  Is that Elkas? Or is it me?

  No time to think.

  I surge upward through the canopy and burst into open air. Cold wind snaps against my face, carrying the scent of salt from a distant ocean far to the South.

  To the East, pale stone walls encircle a massive cathedral. I don’t know how I know-but I do.

  Dawnreach.

  To the Northwest, a smaller settlement hugs the road like it doesn’t want to be seen.

  Brightwell.

  “Judging by the distance, I can reach Dawnreach by tomorrow afternoon,” I message. “Moving.”

  I lean forward and the world answers, treetops blurring beneath me as I rocket over open plains.

  Then-

  Flight Duration: 1 minute remaining.

  I hit the paved road just as the spell ends.

  Gravity slams back into me like a thrown weight, my knees buckling hard. It takes every scrap of focus I have not to pitch forward and eat stone. I stagger, arms out, breath hitching until balance finally returns.

  That’s when I noticed it.

  My mana hasn’t moved.

  Still there, steady in the corner of my vision.

  MP: 57 / 80

  A cold knot tightens in my gut.

  “Guys,” I message them both. “Mana isn’t regenerating. I can’t keep using Fly to travel like this. I don’t know when it will come back. Continuing on foot.”

  Shadow’s reply is immediate.

  “Acknowledged. Stay safe.”

  HH’s follows a moment later, slower, the uncertainty bleeding through.

  “Good idea… but hurry.”

  I start walking, boots scuffing against the road, and keep the channel open.

  “Mana’s not coming back on its own. What other systems are working? Are the others showing up on either of your Friends Lists?”

  The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  While I wait, I pull up my inventory.

  It’s bare.

  No reagents. No mounts. No supplies.

  Just my Archmage Robes, Staff of Power, Spellbook, and fifteen gold coins.

  That’s it.

  Shadow responds first.

  “Others still ‘Unavailable.’ Same as you?”

  “Same here,” HH adds after a pause. “I hope they’re okay… if they’re here at all.”

  “They’re strong,” I reply, more hopeful than certain. “I don’t want to test it, but I wonder if respawn still exists.”

  “Not worth testing,” Shadow replies instantly.

  “I don’t think so,” HH adds. “No one’s appeared at the cathedral. Everyone here was… already here.”

  That thought settles uncomfortably as movement catches my eye.

  A short distance off the road, a man in blue overalls and a wide straw hat is wrestling with a wagon wheel, muttering under his breath. The cart’s piled high with produce, one wheel splintered clean through.

  “Local contact,” I message quietly. “Going to try for a ride. Will help if i can.”

  “Stay safe,” both replies come back almost simultaneously.

  I raise a hand as I approach.

  “Hello there,” I call out. “Looks like you’re having trouble. I might be able to fix that wheel-if you’d be willing to give me a ride to Dawnreach.”

  The man straightens slowly, eyes sweeping over me in a careful, assessing way.

  “Well now,” he says after a moment. “You offerin’ to fix it proper? I could accept that. Headed to Dawnreach meself-sellin’ produce.”

  Up close, I realize he isn’t human.

  Large, fluffy ears poke through his hair beneath the hat, and a thick tail sways behind him, alert but cautious.

  I crouch beside the wheel and trace a simple sigil in the air. Magic flows easily-too easily-binding cracked wood and iron together with a low, creaking groan.

  MP: 56 / 80

  A low whistle escapes him.

  “Faster magic than I’ve ever seen,” he says. “Might get us ta Dawnreach by end o’ tomorra, thanks ta ya.”

  “It’s just a Mending spell,” I reply. “I’ve cast it so many times it’s second nature.”

  “If ya say so,” he shrugs. “Climb aboard. Let’s make tracks.”

  As the horses start forward, I send a quick update.

  “Got passage on a cart. Arrival likely by end of tomorrow.”

  Before either can respond, the man glances back.

  “Name’s Wolfric,” he says. “What do I call you, stranger?”

  I hesitate-just long enough to feel it.

  “Elkas,” I answer. “My name’s Elkas.”

  “Well then, Elkas,” he says. “Where ya travelin’ from? Ya dress strange. An’ ya carry yerself like some’n who’s seen more’n a few fights.”

  “A long way,” I answer carefully. “Not the safest place. Learned to move fast.”

  He studies me for another heartbeat, then nods.

  “Fair nuff. A man tells what he wants. Ya fixed my wheel-Tha’s nuff for me.”

  A moment later, Shadow’s message comes through.

  “Ran into trouble. Laying low. Don’t mention the system to anyone.”

  HH’s follows, quieter.

  “Be careful, Tav. I’ll stay hidden here.”

  The road hums beneath the wheels as the day wears on. By the time the sun dips low, we stop for the night.

  Simple rations. No dreams.

  Just the steady understanding that nothing about this world is going to give us anything for free.

  Dawn breaks over the plains, rising in the direction we are headed. I rise to my feet, using my staff for support. My back aches from sleeping propped against the wheel as I instinctively check my stats.

  HP: 132/132

  MP: 56/80

  So, my HP returned, but not my Mana. That doesn’t bode well for a wizard…

  “Morning,” I’ll message Shadow and HH. “I hope you both slept better than I did. Bare ground and a wooden wheel for a pillow isn’t as comfortable as one would think.”

  “Didn’t sleep,” Shadow’s reply is more annoyed than anything else. “Need to keep moving. My character is Elven, seems it doesn’t need sleep like my human brain once did. I’m running out of stamina faster than would be ideal.”

  “I slept… the beds here are comfortable. But there’s some unease here since one of the brothers is missing… I’ll tell you about it later when I’m out of here…” There’s a note of guilt in the way her words sound over the text.

  Before I can respond, Wolfric rounds the corner. “Hope ya slept decent nuff. Didn’t have a spare bedroll fer ya cuz I didn’t think I’d be havin company. Ya loose yers?”

  “Something like that,” I’ll lie. “Let’s get moving. The sooner we get to Dawnreach, the better.”

  “Aye,” is his only reply.

  Most of the day passes in companionable silence as I look inward and try to find answers to my own thoughts. It doesn’t feel like long, however, before my thoughts are interrupted.

  A high pitched scream fills the air as my eyes shoot awake. The afternoon sun beats down on the road as I scan the plains. I see a woman not so far ahead of us. Blood streaks down her face as three individuals in leather armor with a variety of weapons chas after her. Gaining slowly.

  My body moves before my mind does. Wolfric says something, but I’ve already leapt from the carriage and take off at a run towards the woman and what I can assume are bandits.

  One of them laughs and something in me breaks.

  My staff moves as rime covers the tip.

  I level my staff at the leader.

  A lance of pure frost shoots towards him. His armor is instantly coated in a layer of ice as his legs stop working beneath him and he collapses to the ground panting.

  The second bandit skids to a halt near his boss and barely gets a word out.

  “Magic-”

  My staff flips end over end as the tip ignites into flame and a bolt of pure fire strikes him in the chest, sending him flying backwards. He lands splayed out, the armor on his torso blackened and smoldering.

  The third one barely has time to react as his vision darts from his downed companions to me advancing faster than even I expected. He turns to run, but it’s too late.

  He spins and swings the blade wildly.

  I duck under the swing as my hand erupts in sparks of electricity and strikes upwards into his face with blinding speed.

  The man convulses violently, his muscles seizing as his blade is thrown to the side. He collapses in a twitching heap on the ground.

  Silence cascades as I move with practiced hands that don’t belong to me. I bind all three of them hand and foot as Wolfric finally catches upc completely out of breath.

  “Never… seen anythin… like that… ye weren’t kidin when ye said ye be quick with magics.”

  With the bandits secured, I’ll kneel down next to the woman and offer her a hand. “They won’t be bothering you again, ma’am.”

  She looks up at me like she’s seen a ghost. As she takes my hand, I look inward at my status.

  MP: 53 / 80

  No rest for the wicked, I’ll think to myself.

  One of the bandits starts crying to himself behind me.

  “Get her to the carriage, Wolfric,” my tone brokers no argument. “Maybe someone at the church can help her.”

  “Aye lad,” is his only reply.

  I kneel in front of the crying one, lowering myself until we’re eye level.

  “Now then,” I say softly. “What were you three doing out here?”

  He doesn’t look up.

  “We’re toll collectors,” the leader snaps. “She tripped.”

  The stunned bandit blurts out, “Yeah! We weren’t gonna kill’er-boss pays for the live-”

  A boot lashes out, catching him in the ribs and knocking the wind from him.

  “Oh?” I straighten slowly, the tip of my staff warming in my hand. “Do tell me more about this.”

  The crying man breaks.

  “She’s worth coin!” he sobs. “Confused folk-lost ones. No papers. The boss pays her head! I don’t know his name. I don’t want to!”

  “Where?” I ask.

  “Brightwell!” he gasps. “Always Brightwell!”

  I rise and look down at them, my expression hard.

  “On your feet,” I say. “If you don’t want to burn alive, you’ll walk behind that cart until we reach Dawnreach. Then the guards can decide what to do with your business.”

  They shuffle into motion quickly once they’re tied to the back of the wagon.

  As Wolfric urges the horses forward, I open a private channel.

  “Shadow. Captured bandits. They’re selling people to someone in Brightwell. Can you look into it while I handle HH? Be careful. Not sure how they’re finding us.”

  His reply takes a moment.

  “Confirms what I suspected. I’ll keep my head down and listen. You get our princess out of the dragon’s keep.”

  I huff a quiet laugh that earns a quizzical look from Wolfric.

  “Making jokes now?”

  “Just get her out safely. Then meet me fast.”

  I lift my gaze as the road curves.

  Dawnreach rises ahead of us-pale marble walls catching the light, the great cathedral towering over the city like a promise and a warning all at once.

  I’m coming, HH, I think. Just hold on.