January 14, 2019, pretty close to 2pm.

"Now, I know it might be a lot to ask, but you're the only one able to use magic. At least magic that isn't our own special brand. We were talking, and we could haul stone or other rubble to block the entrance, if you don't think you can do it. But do you think you can try blocking it off?"

Did she just ask me to spend more time using magic? Hell yes.

I pause pretending to be troubled by the idea. But that only lasts a second before I smile then respond. "Sure. I can try at least."

Trying not to show my excitement, I turn towards the church. I doubt I'm successful, as I'm moving rapidly while rubbing my hands together. As I approach the stairs leading down, it occurs to me I'm not sure where to start for earth manipulation. I'm also not sure how much mana it would take to create a door to block the opening. I've mostly used small amounts of mana while slowly drawing the resource from my surroundings. Except for my lightning spell of course. I guess I'll need to figure it out.

Sitting, I run my hands over the stone beneath me, willing my mana to match the feeling. There's a stubbornness and unchanging aspect to it which reminds me of my papi. But there's also a feeling of sudden change, of breaking free, like a great avalanche that lets loose after centuries of stillness. As I work, I ponder the stone around me. It's chiselled and finished. Fine craftsmanship but it's dull grey, lacking that lustre I've seen in granite or marble countertops. It occurs to me I have no idea what it's made of.

While I'm inspecting the building, my mana slows in my finger, getting denser and more rigid. When I call it forth, it's sturdy but oh so small. It's little more than grit on my skin. It's enough to receive a notification though.

"Skill increased: Mana Manipulation (29)."

"Skill gained: Stone Manipulation (1)."

Interesting. It seems that stone is its own element. I wonder if metals and earth are separate or related. Filing my thoughts away for later consideration, I refocus on creating a wall in the doorway. I create a larger pool of stone mana before drawing it forth this time. As the mana pools, I can feel my hand stiffening, losing flexibility. When it feels like my hand has become as solid as stone, I release the mana. I'm only able to create a small block, perhaps two cm per side. Inspecting the block, I sigh. It took me a solid minute to pool enough stone mana to create that block. I may have to approach this differently.

Looking at the building around me, I wonder about stealing a little material. I don't want to take it from the walls or the floor, but maybe if I take it from the stairs below. They're already partially collapsed after all.

I start cutting with my stone mana, attempting to draw the stone from the stairs up. I'm able to do it slowly, by breaking the stone down into cubes with my mana then setting them in place. The first block takes me a minute to levitate a cube roughly ten cm to a side into place. Once I have a meter-tall wall completed, I realize I need to be able to see the stone to cut it away neatly. Standing up I begin bringing blocks up past the wall while stacking them in the corner. I go a little overboard, leaving the stairs leading down as a narrow 30cm wide strip. Technically I've created a second set of stairs on either side of the still remaining steps, but they're each a meter down so it'd be a bit uncomfortable to take them. But I have enough stone to keep experimenting with once I've blocked off the door. I'm also much faster at cutting the blocks than when I started.

By the time I finish placing the wall, I'm able to cut about four blocks per minute. Placing them takes almost no time compared to cutting them free. Reviewing my work, I realize there are some gaps along the edges. I break down a couple of my blocks while moving the pieces into place, securing the wall. Still not satisfied I reach out to the stone to meld it together, cycling my mana through the gaps to weld the stone.

As I'm melding the stone with the floor and walls, I realize that there's some resistance when I link my stone to the outer walls. Whatever keeps the plants away seems to disrupt my ability to connect my stone mana as well. I'm still able to meld my wall, but it takes significantly more effort, including several points of focus.

A quick glance at my notification log confirms that I've improved with my stone manipulation, already getting it up to 7.

"Looks good," Beth admires from behind me, reminding me of my group's presence. I knew they'd been moving in and out of the church as I worked but I hadn't paid them much notice while I was working.

I turn to Beth as she continues, "it really is something. That would have taken us a couple days to plug with debris. You finished in less than an hour. Good work kid," Beth finishes her thought by ruffling my hair again. It's a good thing I don't have a mirror, I'd hate to see how unruly my hair is at this point. At least it's not getting in my eyes.

Basking in my accomplishment is interrupted when Roberts suddenly cries out, "Come quick, Josh is in trouble." Beth and I glance at each other, before running for the door. Beth moves at an insane rate, easily beating me to exit by half the room. The second she reaches the door; I see her unsling her massive rifle as she turns in the direction of Roberts' voice. She sights down her rifle even as I move up next to her.

Looking over I see a creature the size of a car snapping at Josh. It reminds me of a wolf. If a wolf had armadillo plating and a wicked Mohawk of quills running along its head. I dub thee wolfadillo.

As I watch I see Josh roll to the side, easily dodging a lunging bite. He tries countering with a quick slash of his thorn-blade, but the wolfadillo is too fast for him. He's circling the wolfadillo warily, searching for an opening when I hear a familiar click next to me. The shot is nearly silent, but the impact sends a heavy whump sound that rolls across the village.

The impact hits the wolfadillo so hard that it is thrown up and over Josh, the remains of its body twisting as it falls.

The thump of its landing is nearly as loud as the initial impact, leaving me wishing I'd covered my ears. In the time it takes for me to process what's happening, Beth follows up with a second shot, ensuring the wolfadillo won't be rising again.

Josh is staring at the wolfadillo's body. Beth is scanning the area while I'm still just watching. Then I hear a howl. It's like every howl I've heard on every tv show or movie. But this time there's one thing that's different. This time I'm hearing the howling in person. As if that's not enough, it isn't just one, I hear more and more joining in from all around us.

"Fall back! Into the church!" Beth yells, grabbing me by my arm before shoving me inside.

"Alexis, can you get some of that stone into the windows? I'd rather not have them coming at us from all sides." Beth requests as I stumble inside. Turning I see her looking directly at me. For once those eyes of death feel comforting. It's good to know she's on my side.

"Yeah, sure. On it," I reply, turning to my pile of stone blocks. I wasn't pushing myself earlier, as I wanted to conserve my mana in case of an emergency. Well, I'd say this qualifies.

Reaching out with my mana, I grab half a dozen stone blocks at once then run them to the back-most window. I fit them loosely, just using a quick burst of mana to set them into place. From outside I hear another thud followed by a loud whine. Stepping back from the window, I see Josh and Roberts appear next to Beth at the entrance. Turning I run back to grab another six blocks taking them to the next window. The wolfadillo was huge, so I feel that I should be okay with just making the windows smaller for now. I hope.

Setting my third set of stone in place I spare a quick check of my mana. I'm only down six points, I can do more at once. This time I grab twelve stone blocks before moving to block off two more windows. Once they're in place there's only one window on the right and the two large windows at the front that are still open. And the door of course.

I'm running back to grab the last blocks when the howling stops. I don't stop moving, reaching out to snag the last of the blocks. There's only eight left but that's enough for the last side window. As I head back towards the front, I notice everyone has moved inside. Josh is facing the front, keeping himself between the door and the others. Beth is facing forward, keeping her rifle trained on the doorway. Roberts isn't doing much, but he keeps scanning the sides, including the windows I've blocked off. It's like he's worried the wolfadillos could come crashing through at any moment.

Given their size, I'm afraid he might be right. I move forward carefully as I set the last few blocks in place. I don't really want to get close to the window, but I need to stay within two meters to set them in place. As I set the last block down, I glance up through the front window to see a large wolfadillo staring in.

It locks its eyes on me then charges.

I still have my mana locked around the last block, so I take the block, shooting it at the wolfadillo. The twenty-five-kilo block bounces off the thing's hide, barely slowing its charge. I hear Beth's rifle click, the impact ringing out.

Either she was shooting at something else or she missed. Scrambling back, I fire off my quickest and easiest spell, flame arrow. It slams into the wolfadillo, leaving a smouldering scorch mark on its shoulder but it's already in the air leaping through the window.

I keep moving back, happy I took the time to clean the floors in here. Seeing how little my flame arrow did, I summon a lightning torrent instead. The energy takes a second to build before ripping forth from my hand. The wolfadillo didn't stop charging me the entire time, so it's only two meters away when I release the spell. When the wolfadillo sees the lightning coming, it tries to twist out of the way, but it's too close so my lightning seeks it out, twisting and flowing into it, before arcing away. The loud impacts from Beth's rifle are gentle pops compared to the crackling roar that accompanies my lightning at close range.

The backlash from my spell sends me flying across the stone floor, leaving me deaf and blind as I roll to a stop. As the ringing in my ears fades, I'm greeted by the sound of sizzling. As my vision returns, I'm able to make out three huge shapes lying on the stone floor. At first, I'm relieved, but then I realize someone is missing. Looking around, I see Josh picking himself up off the floor. He's immediately joined by Roberts, but I still don't see Beth.

I'm about to call her name when there's another loud thump outside the building. Glancing at Josh, I run for the front entrance. As I'm stepping around the still sizzling flesh of the three dead wolfadillos, I see Beth skirting around the statue dodging the snapping bites of a snarling wolfadillo.

Josh brushes against me as he rushes to help, jumpstarting my brain.

I can't shoot another lightning torrent without hitting Beth too, so I fire off a quick flame arrow. Unfortunately, this one isn't charging straight at me so my shot goes wide. I really need to practice more.

While I'm shooting at it, I see Josh moving up to flank it. Right when I think Josh has it, the wolfadillo shakes it's spikey mohawk, sending dangerous quills flying at Josh and Beth.

Before I can fire another arrow, I hear a low growl from my right. Turning I see an insane flaming bunny slam into the lead beast before dashing off into the trees. Behind the lead are two more wolfadillos. They're advancing slowly, probably wary of more bunny sneak attacks. Or maybe they can smell the seared flesh of their dead companions. Which is pretty awful, by the way.

Their slow approach is perfect for me. They're at least ten meters away, which is way better than the last one, so I carefully create another lightning torrent then throw it at them. Even though my spell is carefully crafted, I'm thrown flying as the lightning arcs towards the beasts. Before I land, I see my lightning hit the first creature before continuing towards the other two. The one furthest back manages to avoid the worst of the spell, but the first two are already writhing in pain.

Then I hit the ground, my world spinning around me. The last thing I see is Josh running straight in my direction as my head hits something hard.

Christmas Eve, the year after the ugly tree incident.

There's a jostling noise coming from outside our new apartment's windows. I don't like it. I don't like anything about the new apartment. Or the new school.

I especially don't like our neighbour across the hall. He's big and scary, everything about him is dark and black and sharp.

We shouldn't even be here. We should be at mami and papi's just like we have been every Christmas Eve since forever. But we're not. We're sitting at home in the dark. There are candles burning, but the power is out. It's not just us, it's the whole block.

Mom broke out the tiger's eye ice cream, claiming, "it's just going to melt anyway."

She's served us each a giant portion so I'm relishing every bite. It was papa's favourite. I still try to sneak it to him when we go to visit, but mom always knows. That's okay, it's not like he can eat it anyway. The visits haven't stopped yet. Mom hasn't given up hope. Not yet. She won't for another year.

"Eat up sweetie, your ice cream is melting," she encourages as she wipes a spot that dripped.

I diligently return to eating my ice cream, when there's a knock at the door. Glancing at me for a second, my mom hesitantly stands up before moving to the door. I watch as she looks through the eye hole.

A moment later, she undoes the deadbolt but leaves the chain in place. I lick a spot where ice-cream has dribbled onto my hands as I hear my mother whispering to whoever is on the other side of the door, not close enough to make out the words.

When mom sits down, it's heavier, like something is wrong.

I don't ask her. I want to be at mami and papi's. That's what makes it Christmas. Looking to the little tree we have shoved into the corner of the living room; I think of the grand Christmas tree papi would have. It would be decorated with all sorts of hand-crafted ornaments instead of the sparse store-bought ones on our little tree.

But that wasn't the important thing. Christmas was the only time that papi would tell his stories. He'd been a photographer when he was young. The kind that went to the dangerous parts of the world to take the kind of pictures that could change it. Back when you didn't have people with cell phones on every corner, that is.

But the stories were never about his photos. They were about the people he met. The foods. The places. And they were magical. He had a way of speaking that took me with him.

So yeah, I was wishing I was there, listening to my papi's stories with my cousins Luke, Bryce and Kaylee, instead of sitting in a dark apartment eating ice-cream with my mom.

Mom starts crying which breaks me out of my thoughts. I sigh as I move over to hold her. I don't know who was at the door, but if I had to guess, I'd say it was Mr. Edwards. His visits always leave mom crying. I don't know why he'd come by on Christmas eve.

She is starting to calm down when there is another knock at the door. Looking at her, I resolutely move to the door, sliding my spy bucket into place. Outside the door is our tall dark neighbour. In his hands, he has a large casserole dish.

He's shifting back and forth as I inspect him. He doesn't seem so scary as I watch him through the peephole. He seems kind of young and scrawny. It's the trenchcoat I realize. It's missing. He's just a kid without it.

Making a split-second decision, I unlock the door then swing it open.

"Hi," I proclaim like I knew papi would. He was brave. I could be brave. Even when I was missing his stories.

"Uhm hi. Is your mother home?" he asks staring down at me.

"Yep. She's busy." I answer while meeting his eyes.

"Oh. Uh. I'm Josh. I brought you guys a beef casserole." he offers as I scrutinize him.

"I'm Alexis. Uhm thanks." I reply taking the casserole from him.

"You're welcome," he mumbles as we both just awkwardly stand there. "Merry Christmas," he says while waving goodbye before retreating.

"Merry Christmas," I reply closing the door. Explaining to mom who it was, we dish up, putting the ice cream away. It's actually pretty good.

Maybe he's not so bad after all.

Shaking the remnants of the memory from my mind, I wonder if the magic and Akilo were just a dream. I shift under my super warm blanket, where I'm safely tucked away no crazy monsters or amazing magic. But then my head throbs fiercely while my arm complains about being crushed underneath me. My bed feels like it's made of stone and my blanket is far too heavy.

Pushing my way free takes a great deal of effort and even some stone manipulation. When I emerge, I realize my blanket is a dead wolfadillo. I do not react to that well, bile rising in my throat.

Once I'm done gagging, I start looking around the village. I spot the still smoking body of a wolfadillo to my right. One of mine, I think. The one Josh and Beth were fighting is lying to my left. But the village is quiet. There's no sound of fighting or struggle. Pushing myself up, I wince as I realize my right arm is burned. Probably feedback from my lightning torrent spell. I should probably work on adjusting my spell.

Where is everyone?

I can't imagine Beth or Josh abandoning me here, so something must have happened. They only had the one wolfadillo left to fight, so what happened to them? My first thought is that they're injured. If so they might need my help. Quickly checking inside the church, I confirm that it's just the three smoking bodies from earlier, no teammates in sight. Next, I check my party status. That should let me know if they're okay at least. But every status is greyed out, even Josh.

Okay. They left me here, or worse, they're in a rough enough state they have no status. They clearly finished the remaining wolfadillo, I think while kicking the body of the one at my feet. Maybe there were more so they had to run for it?

Do I have any way of tracking them?

None of the magic I've learned so far seems like it would be useful for that. Maybe if I use my forest survival skill, it can help me.

First, I'm going to check this area. Maybe my status is broken, or I'll find a clue or something.

With that in mind, I start searching where I last saw Josh and Beth fighting the wolfadillo. The creature is lying there, its body marked by numerous puncture wounds. I'm pretty sure the blow to the eye is what finally did it in. Luckily, I don't find Josh or Beth bleeding out next to the wolfadillo. Since I don't find any clues either, I make my way over to the ones I charred outside.

Here I find my first clue, though I'm not sure what to make of it

One of the wolfadillos is missing, there's nothing left but a smattering of blood where its body fell.

Inspecting it closely, I'm able to determine that there's a trail of blood that leads over to the side. There in the overgrown stone, I make out massive gouges, carved by what I'm guessing are some truly massive claws. Looking around again, I remember the dragon then run back to the church. Once I'm inside the nice sturdy stone walls, I retreat to the corner, near the sealed stairway. With no easy angle of ambush, I try to think about my options. Josh, Beth and Roberts are gone. Possibly taken by a dragon. Or maybe they saw the dragon coming then booked it. In which case they might be coming back. I can't blame them for running, because let's face it, we do not want to take on something that nasty.

Speaking of nasty, I turn my gaze on the corpses stinking up my refuge. Sighing, I stand to get to work. This is the only reasonably safe place I've seen so far. If we're going to stay here, I'd rather it not stink. I call forth the, oh so useful, water mana but discover I don't have the force to push the bodies out. Not unless I want to use large amounts of mana. Switching to stone magic, I'm able to create a layer of round stones after some trial and error. I'm able to use them to carry the wolfadillo bodies outside. I've finished with the first two, depositing them across from the church. I'm about to remove the third when I'm struck by a horrible thought.

The wolfadillo in front of me might be an important source of food. Bracing myself, I reach for my forest survival skill focusing on the idea of turning the creature in front of me into food. I only receive flashes, but they still make me gag. On the plus side, they do give me a general idea of where to start. The only problem is, I don't have a knife.

The obvious solution is to make one out of stone. Taking a fifty-centimetre-long piece of stone, I'm able to form the general shape of a knife, but I can't get it to hold an edge with my stone manipulation. I try several methods before I decide to try scouring it with a spinning orb of water instead. This allows me to get a finer edge, but when I try to use it, I notice it's prone to breaking.

Deciding I don't know enough about crafting to create a better knife, I start skinning and gutting the wolfadillo, reforming and regrinding the blade throughout. By the time I've finished, I realize it's been an hour since I woke. If they were coming back, they'd probably be back by now. I just want to sit while lamenting my misfortune, but my survival skill told me I need to smoke and dry the meat as soon as I can. So, cautiously, I step outside into the village in search of firewood. Which means moving past the bodies of the other wolfadillos.

Stepping carefully, I push the bodies further away from the building before moving towards the nearby forest. I consider searching for dry wood, but my magic should allow me to light pretty much anything on fire.

With that in mind, I settle for the first decent-sized tree I find. It's a nice small tree, hopefully, small enough I can haul it back myself. A couple of quick wind arrows later leaves me struggling to pull the fallen tree back to the church, branches snagging on everything. Giving up on hauling it by hand, I once again turn to magic. I use wind mana to chop through all the branches, leaving the trunk bare. I then drag the main trunk back by hand while using water mana to drag the other branches.

As I'm collecting the water to transport the branches, I end up drawing some of the water directly from the tree. This is perfect for my needs. By the time I return to the church, I've drained half the water from the tree. Meanwhile, the branches are dry enough to make excellent kindling. Apparently, that's what it's called, the material you use to start fires. Beth told me that while we were making the fire pit at lunch. Maybe if they see the smoke, they'll have an easier time finding their way back.

Looking around I realize I don't have anywhere to store all the water I've gathered. Shrugging, I take a quick drink, wash myself off, then send it all outside creating a big sploosh by the statue. Turning back to my firewood and meat, I realize I need more building materials. I step outside before returning with half a dozen blocks, all cut from the closest building to the south. I gather enough blocks to create an enclosed space that I put next to the least blocked window near the front. I'd rather not smoke myself out if I don't have to so I'm going to create a smokehouse that vents to the outside. I create a few slabs for the meat to sit on but keep the fire in a separate area with stone channels directing the hot air up. Just like mana, I'm pretty sure direction matters. The understanding I get from my skill is I want the smoke and hot air to dry the meat out.

Once I've constructed my smokehouse, I place all the meat I've carved inside it. Then I seal it up with my magic. I won't be able to get at the meat without stone shaping, but that means nothing else should be able to either.

Starting the fire using kindling is the easiest part of the process.

Once that's done, I start preparing the rest of my firewood. Before I draw the rest of the water from my firewood, I gather some more stone then make myself a washbasin. Thus prepared, I draw the water out, wash my hands, yet again, then deposit the clean water into the basin. With my basin completed, I set out to the nearby building to gather more stone to block up the windows. I don't stop even after the windows on the ground floor and the upper balcony are entirely filled in. Once I've gathered every available block from the nearby building, I have enough to fill the front door, plus a lot of extras. As I prepare to close myself off, my eyes scan the clearing one last time. But no one is coming. After a second of hesitation, I start filling in the front door.

I swiftly go over the checklist in my head.

the building is secure, I have water ready to drink, there's food slowly cooking, and they're not coming back,

Now that I know I've finished everything on my checklist I do what I've really been waiting for.

I sit down and cry.