"The Builder is the most practical, understandable of the Eternals. He creates the Titans and explains that they are tools meant to help him finish up with Creation. Ages pass and the Titans' great works stretch across the face of the world. They declare themselves the mightiest and most exalted of the mortal races.

The dragons remind them that they're copies left to run loose after they've served their purpose. War breaks out. There's no way for the dragons to win on their own and that's when we come in. We win and the Titans are wiped out."

Day turned to evening as Alexa worked with the wood. The flint knife proved to be distressingly brittle and by the time dusk arrived, the blade had several jagged nicks and notches. While she could no longer see the boar, familiar squeals and calls reached her. It sounded as though it, or another boar, was getting into fights with several different animals.

A magnificent black stag stepped from the forest and examined the furrows left in the earth before scrapping his antlers against a tree. Wild turkeys pecked at the hillside. Alexa spotted another small bobcat and a huge raccoon.

While she’d left her home in winter, Alexa realized it was springtime here. She also found that her sense of orientation was stronger than before. If she concentrated, she could feel the eastward direction. Was there a magnetic pull elves sensed or was this part of her ‘nature sense’ from Path of the Wild?

Her stomach grumbled and complained about only having a single mushroom to eat, but after this morning, Alexa would stay in her safe zone until things settled down.

As dusk fell, she set out again. This time with purpose. Her patterns required cordage and cordage required plant fiber. If she could gather the raw material, Alexa was sure she could craft a small length of rope.

Even as the sun melted into the horizon, her vision remained keen. The sounds of strange beasts carried with the chill wind, and Alexa hugged the area around the safe zone, pausing frequently to scan the area around her. Near the edge of the forest, she came upon a group of tall, stocky plants with drooping white flowers. The leaves were thick and prickly. She began to cut through them with her flint blade but then realized it would be just as easy to dig them out of the loose dirt.

Soon Alexa returned to the warmth and safety of the cave, prizes in hand. Plucking a white flower, she chewed on it and then immediately spit out the sour mess. The roots were tuberous; those she scrapped the skin from and rinsed before wrapping them in a leaf and setting them on the hot stones of the fire.

After pounding the leaves with a stone and scraping them, she had a collection of strong plant fibers that she wove together. Again, the crafting came easily to her hands as long as she focused her mind on the pattern. It was relaxing, actually, a sort of meditation.

[Plant Identified: Razorleaf. Common to the rugged grasslands of the north, this plant has steadily migrated southwards since its introduction. Care should be taken when handling as fine quills cover the woody part of the plant.]

Alexa grunted at the message as she plucked a tiny but irritating fiber from her index finger. The skin of her fingertips had reddened with irritation, giving them a slightly purple hue. She continued to lose herself in the rope making. By the time she finished, Alexa had several long strands of thin rope and her fingertips tingled and itched.

The tubers had finished cooking. Which is to say they had warmed and softened slightly. Their flavor was similar to a bland carrot. Eventually, Alexa would need more than mushrooms and roots to eat, but it took the edge off her hunger. She pulled out a few more plant fibers from the skin of her fingers and palm. Each was pale and as thin as an eyelash. The razorleaf wasn’t ideal material and she’d look for something better tomorrow.

Outside the moon had risen, almost as full as the night before. This would be a good a time as any to see what ‘lunar essence’ might be capable of.

Sitting cross-legged in the moonlight, she pondered how best to access it and what it would be good for. She associated the sun with strength and directness. If she had ‘solar essence,’ Alexa imagined she could shoot rays of fire or hurt undead. The moon tended to be more intuitive and feminine—associated with water because it pulled on the tides. A handful of associations wasn’t practically useful.

Alexa cupped her hand so moonlight pooled in it. She thought back towards last night and the rapture of losing herself in dark waters. It had felt beautiful, serene, and timeless. At that moment, she'd unlocked her lunar essence, so she tried to evoke that experience again. Alexa let the feeling flow into the palms of her hands—like a spring bud breaking through the snow, a tiny ball of silver light appeared.

She moved her hands away and it hovered in the air before her. When she tried to touch it, her fingers passed through it like mist.

Too direct, she decided, be gentler.

She slowly moved her hand towards the tiny ball of hovering light. Her fingers brushed the air around it and she felt cool, pulsing energy. Mentally, she pushed—just a light tap. The ball moved, flowing like a drop of water. Rather than focusing on the light, Alexa imagined an invisible membrane wrapped around it. This was what she tried to influence.

Alexa leaned forward and lightly blew on the ball, pouring her serene feeling into it. It expanded and brightened. For a few minutes, she moved it back and forth with her hand, never touching it directly but still scooping it up, tossing it, pushing it forward, and pulling it back. It flowed easily once Alexa understood how it worked.

Fascinating. But was it useful? She had a light, but it gave no warmth. It was intangible, even if it acted like quicksilver. She could move it back and forth with hand gestures. As far as she could tell, it couldn't be used for attack or defense.

As she pondered, Alexa realized her fingertips and palm no longer burned or itched. Whatever toxin or allergic reaction had irritated the skin was neutralized. That could be natural, however. She’d need to verify it.

She took a section of the razorleaf and rubbed it against her calf. It wasn’t long before the burning, prickling sensation began. Pooling the moonlight in her palms, she rolled it across her skin. This time, she felt the cool sensation that surrounded the moonlight soothe the reddening patch.

That could mean it had healing properties. Alexandra wasn’t willing to injure herself more to test them, however. It was something to keep in mind for when she ventured further from the safe zone.

When she’d unlocked the Moonlight rote, she’d also gotten Lunar Imbuement. If moonlight was a direct projection of lunar essence into the world, imbuement sounded like it was a way to enchant things.

Picking up her stone knife, she tried to pour essence into it. The stone first turned black in her hand and then the 'blade' began to emit a soft glow.

Running her finger along the edge, she found it was no sharper than before. When she used it to slice a piece of razorleaf root, something felt different, but it was hard to place. Turning the knife over in her hands, the handle had become smoother and the balance had shifted. Grabbing a similar-sized length of flint, Alexa compared the two—the material of the knife was less brittle now.

The glow had gone out of it. When she bathed it in lunar essence a second time, the glow returned but there were no other changes. It lasted a minute longer before fading.

Alexa picked up other items she had—a few mushrooms, her clothing, the rope, bits of wood—and used lunar imbuement on them in turn. Each acquired the same momentary silvery glow when she did. The mushrooms and clothing didn’t appear to change. The rope lost some of its roughness. The wood retained its glow for the longest and also became more pliant for a while before hardening again.

Working slowly, Alexa imbued a thin branch the length of her arm and curled it. When she finished, it had the shape of a spring but toying with it further caused it to snap in half.

Alexa contemplated the clean break and wondered what she’d learned. Lunar essence could give her temporary night lights that soothed skin. She could also fill objects with it with different results. Nothing major, but that could be due to her only lack of skill and the basic quality of what she was experimenting on.

Looking around, Alexa wondered if there was anything she had missed. Her eyes immediately fell on the fountain and the bonfire itself.

Cupping water in her hand, Alexa poured lunar essence into it until it glowed, and then sipped. To her disappointment, it was nothing as dramatic as the magical pool that had brought her here. There was a subtle change in flavor and that was it.

When she held her palms beside the fire and tried to imbue it, Alexa was surprised at the result. The flames danced higher, hotter, and shifted from a normal orange to sparkling silver. Unlike everything else, the fire felt less passive. It did not simply accept the lunar essence but seemed to draw it from her. There was an almost animalistic hunger there, and Alexa yanked her hands away.

It made sense—the bonfire had been awoken with a living spirit. Alexa herself could be a fuel source. Unprompted, the blood-drinking plant from Little Shop of Horrors came to Alexandra’s mind.

Best to hold off on giving the bonfire more food. It was doing well enough already.

There were patterns for crude weapons in her head, a hatchet, spear, and bow. If she practiced with her essence, Alexa might be able to give them a worthwhile enhancement, but that still left the problem of her not knowing how to use any of those objects. Even if she managed to improve her imbuement to the point that she could turn a wooden spear into a blazing mithril javelin or the like, the dire boar would probably kill her before Alexa even managed to poke him.

None of the patterns in her mind provided armor. The best offered was heavy, layered fur clothing.

The situation might improve in time, but for now, the safest route was to avoid any danger.

“All the world will be your enemy, Prince With A Thousand Enemies, and whenever they catch you, they will kill you. But first, they must catch you,” she said aloud.

Alexa wondered if there were libraries in this world.

She checked her feet again. There were pale scar lines where the flesh had been cut and then rapidly healed. The bonfire and its magical healing were miraculous, but she had no intention of spending the rest of her days in a cave. Besides, she couldn’t be sure this safe zone would last.

It would be wonderful if it burned eternally. It would also be wonderful if she was a human woman stuck in her bed with the flu, sipping on chicken noodle soup. Stability couldn’t be assumed these days.

Alexa napped on the floor for a few hours until she heard a crash from the forest. Peering out, she didn’t see or hear anything nearby, but the jolt was enough to wake her fully.

She started to craft a small bow. Elves were good with bows, right? That and having fabulous hair was their thing. It was something she could practice with and gave her the most range. If things went well, she could hunt small animals… though she didn’t look forward to the idea of cutting them up and cooking them.

Things did not go well on the first try. Her bow could fire a wooden arrow about three feet—she could do more damage throwing rocks.

“Try, try again,” Alexa murmured. Her voice sounded off. Was that due to new ears or had it changed?

She gathered more wood and plant fiber and had a second go at it, a third, and a fourth. The fourth one did it—managing to send an arrow flying wildly into the bushes. Alexa tried again, this time using her lunar imbuement. While the enchantment had a subtle effect on the wood and string, the end product was markedly superior. Though small, it had a balanced, well define curve and the string was both strong and tight.

Of course, the arrow flew wildly again, landing nowhere near the tree she’d picked as a target, but this time it shot out with real force and speed.

Alexa’s arrows were little more than sticks that she straightened and sharpened, but she stood outside her cave and happily fired them this way and that. An hour passed as she played around with her new toy. If she angled the shot upward, it traveled much farther than if she shot straight ahead. Her fingers and wrist began to ache after a while and even though she kept to the shade, the sunlight was making her head ache.

Drawing on her lunar essence, she tried to summon moonlight into her palm but found she couldn’t. After shuffling into the cave, she was able to do so, but the light was wane and its energy faint. Night vs day affected her ability to some extent—what about the various phases of the moon? Or the season?

Sitting cross-legged, Alexa focused on the serene, tranquil energy within her and let it circulate through her body. The discomfort in her head and wrist subsided.

Next, she imbued the bow she’d been using again, and then tugged on string. The bow felt stronger, and she could draw it back more.

It occurred to Alexa that she was becoming her grandmother when it came to lunar essence. The woman was wild for tea tree oil.

Cut or burn? Put tea tree oil on it.

Cold? Inhale steam from hot water mixed with tea tree oil.

Breakouts? Here’s a face cream with tea tree oil.

Also, there was tea tree oil toothpaste to whiten your teeth. Insect repellent that would have you smelling like tea trees. Rub it on your armpit to kill the bacteria. Clean your kitchen with a mixture of it.

It was amusing in small amounts, but the woman had also sent her copypaste e-mails about how tea tree oil steam could help protect against COVID. And mom had to fight with her to get her vaccinated because vaccines were ‘unnatural.’

Alexa felt a spurt of irritation as memories of having to brush her teeth with horrible tea tree flavored toothpaste mixed with those of her mom and grandmother arguing in the kitchen. Why did she always have to be so stubborn? Alexa loved her nana to pieces but the woman was physically incapable of admitting she was wrong about something.

Then it struck Alexa that might never see her grandmother again.

Irritation fizzled away. She watched the fire dance as that thought took root: her family was gone. What would they think had happened to her? She’d just disappeared. How long would her parents wait, hoping to hear that she’d been found?

She pushed herself to her feet and went back to shooting arrows. There was no enjoyment in it now, but Alexa needed something, anything to do. When she ran out, Alexa slipped into the forest and snapped twigs off trees, using her imbuement to reform them. As the sun crawled up into the sky, energy left her. After a bout of dizziness, she stopped to get a drink of water.

As she sipped, Alexa realized she was parched. Her headache returned with a vengeance and she lied down, reminding herself that she had hardly eaten over the last day.

“Elves have lower constitution,” she said as she pulled up the racial description again.

That could mean any number of things. Alexa could be more prone to disease, heal slower, or have less endurance. She remembered reading that humans were endurance hunters. Like the wolves they’d befriended, humans could spend an entire day tracking down prey if need be. Elves might be like cats—bursts of energy followed by fourteen hours of sleep.

The mushrooms and roots she’d nibbled on might have been indigestible. She stuck her finger in her mouth and ran it over her teeth. They felt the same.

That was the last thought she had before she surrendered to sleep. Dreams rushed at her from the darkness of her mind. In them were others who’d come from Earth, struggling to survive. They had no bonfire to keep them warm and safe, no safe zone to heal them. A few had already died from exposure or attacks from monsters. Some were hungry or injured, most were afraid.

A scene played out of young men in shirts and ties fighting one another, rolling in the dirt and leaves. Alexa couldn’t see what they were fighting over but one grabbed a heavy stone and beat the other’s head in.

She awoke with a start, shivering despite the fire.

That had been real. Though she’d been asleep, it had unfolded with as much clarity as the events of the day. Channeling the moon’s essence had opened a corner of her mind.

Night had fallen and as she stepped outside, Alexa imagined the moon was waiting for her.

Tea tree oil, she reminded herself. Even in a world with magic and the divine, sometimes the moon was just a moon. She didn’t want to become one of those people who thought every rainbow they saw was a personal message from God.

...even though she was now receiving visions.

Alexa closed her eyes and squeezed the bridge of her nose. There were other people out there, some close to her. And something was compelling her to bring them to the bonfire. To safety.

But how? She had no idea how to find them. The animals and monsters in her dream would kill her easily. Alexa was struggling to survive and learn the rules of this world—she couldn’t save anyone!

No, Alexa couldn’t be a hero. There would be no rushing out to save people. She couldn’t help others if she was dead. Alexa needed to grow stronger—continue with her path and improve her skills.

For a moment, she imagined her own family out there. Alexa hadn’t seen anyone she knew, but all those people had their own loved ones.

“Fuck,” she swore. Her belly grumbled in hunger.

Alexa grabbed her knife and stripped the trees around the safe area of bark and small branches. Using her stone hatchet, she dug a shallow pit outside the cave mouth and filled it with kindling. Then she used a branch to carry flames from the bonfire to the pit.

As the mess burned, dark smoke drifted upwards.

Flame for the night and smoke for the day. A signal others might spot and head to. Alexa would keep it constantly burning. It would take work but she was in the middle of a damned forest, wood was not hard to fine.

That would have to be enough for now.