“The only thing I know about this land is what I heard from the guards.” Will started as he sat on the grass outside of the cottage. “Something about a Crimson King and Ebonhart.”

“The Crimson King came to power around twenty years ago.” Maya nodded as she confirmed what Will had heard. She took a small pause while picking a blade of grass, playing with it between her fingers. “He and his wife had a child three years into his rule. During that time, my father said the kingdom had flourished.” Will listened intently to her explanation. The history of the king may be the only way to truly fit in with the others in this world.

“Fourteen years ago, his wife left the castle with her child. No one saw her leave nor did they have notice of her departure.” Maya looked up at the clouds, a thoughtful expression on her face. “The king fell into a deep depression, not even knowing why she left. Since then, he has kept himself in the castle and allowed his advisers to run the kingdom,” she said “advisers” with such disgust that Will was surprised.

“Since that time, the advisers have been bleeding this land dry. The taxes have been raised, and our harvest taken yearly for the royal army, making living nearly impossible.” Maya's eyes were now filled with disappointment as she looked down at the single blade of grass in her hand. “Anyone who can't pay, they make an example of. Last year, my father wasn't able to meet the tax requirement and well . . .” She stopped and looked at the ground. Will could only imagine what had happened. “Any elderly who can't meet the tax deadline is executed on sight,” she continued. “Their reasoning is if they can't work, why would they be allowed to live off the kingdom?” Her anger was shown through her eyes. “They blamed it on keeping troops fed just in case of war.”

Knowing he had hit a sore spot in her life, Will cleared his throat and changed the subject. “So what exactly can I do to help?” Maya looked at him with a hopeful expression. Will could tell that it had been hard on her; trying to get everything prepared for the harvest was something a group of people did. She only had herself.

“If you feel the need to help, you could always help out in the field with me. Also I'm a bit too little to chop wood for the fire. If you could help, I would be grateful,” she said with a cheery expression, her eyes smiling more than just her mouth. Will smiled at her change in mood. Her smile fit her features perfectly in the setting sun. He didn't understand most of the politics in his world, but he could tell that anything was better than what she had to go through. Anything he could do to help her would be too little compared to what she had already done for him.

They sat on the grass and talked for a good amount of time about nothing in particular, the sound of Maya's laughter echoing throughout the trees. In Will's time so far in this new world, truly anything was second to the happiness within those few moments, he felt as though he made a close friend. He made a silent promise to himself that he would do what he could to ensure that smile stayed on her face.

The sun had already set an undetermined amount of time ago, the only light was that in which the stars emitted. Will stood up from their resting place and offered his hand to Maya. Accepting his hand, they both stood in the patch of grass, barely any stars were visible, but Will could still make out how Maya's eyes shown in the limited light.

“We should probably head inside and get some sleep,” Maya said as she looked away from Will. She was grateful for how dark it was, any lighter and he would have seen how red her face was.

Will nodded as they went to the small cottage. He had just woken up not too long ago, but the stew Maya made had already made him tired. “So what are the sleeping arrangements going to be like while I'm staying here?” Will asked. It was a valid question seeing as though the cottage was just a single room. He didn't even remember any furniture in the living area besides a few chairs by the fire.

Maya turned to meet his gaze. “You can take the floor in the living area if you'd like, I'm sure there's enough space for your sleeping mat.” Will instantly shook his head at the idea. He had been sleeping on hard surfaces since he got to Crystallia, he wasn't too thrilled to go back to it again.

“I'll just take a tree out on the side of the house if that's alright with you,” he said almost instantly after her idea. He remembered how nice it was to wake up to the sun, being shaded by trees. He enjoyed the feel of the grass under him, it made him think of all the times he had gone camping with Jonathan.

Maya nodded with understanding. Will had to assume she was also thinking about living arrangements. “Will you be alright sleeping outside? There really isn't too much for wildlife around to be a threat, but the cold is a different story,” she said as a hint of worry was easy for Will to pick up on.

“I've slept outside every night since I've gotten to this place,” He said with a sigh. “But I've kind of gotten used to it,” he said with a smile on his face. The smile alone was enough to put Maya's mind at ease. Will's heart eased just a little bit by the smile she returned. Something about making her happy was enough to keep him content, even in the strange world he had landed himself in.

“Just yell if you need anything, there's a well over there if you get thirsty.” She pointed over to the corner of the shack. Will nodded with a smile as he left the shack to find a good place.

It took only a moment to find a decent place near a tall tree with plenty of cover from rain. Will made a mental note as he setup a camp to see whether it was possible to make a cottage of his own for future use; he didn't see himself sleeping outside for months on end. With a sigh, he finished within ten minutes as he sat cross-legged on the top of his sleeping bag. Having had such a day with many events, the recollection was as if he were watching a movie. Thinking back to when he made the fire appear, Will decided to experiment a little before bed.

The only thing that had felt different to Will since he got to this new world was the warm aura that had surrounded him at all times. It almost felt like a safety blanket to him, it kept him warm and dry in many occasions though he knew from the flames earlier that it wasn't just used for comfort. He could also use them for protection and to fight back. Will's mind wandered to the black cloaks that Michael had fought. He remembered that Michael had been able to conjure up his own flame within his sword. It was that thought that made Will realize how weak he truly was, but at the same time, he was given the opportunity to get stronger.

Closing his eyes, Will focused on the aura. He felt the warmth all around him; it almost felt like a second skin. Skin huh? Will thought. Under the skin was muscle and bone, under the skin there were joints. If it were anything like a second skin, maybe he could move it. He imagined the aura circulating, moving as if it were a real thing. To Will's astonishment, he felt the aura moving with his thoughts. Not losing concentration, Will raised a palm upward. He directed his now living aura to circulate into the palm of his hand. All the extra heat from the aura left the fullness of his body and traveled to the hand in which he instructed. He could feel the heat of the aura pushing itself to the palm of his hand. The aura was stuck just beneath the surface of his palm; it took all of his concentration for it to break through to bring it to life.

When Will opened his eyes, without breaking his concentration, he looked at the palm of his hand. Will's eyes grew wide as he saw a ruby red flame, the size of a candle flame in the center of his palm. Will stared at the flame and the light it cast just a few feet in front of him. Only within moments, the exertion became too taxing for him to keep the flame lit; moments later, the flame went out.

The feeling that he had just ran a marathon quickly set upon Will as the aura once again wrapped itself around him. Though the familiar warmness returned, it was weaker. A light sheen of sweat coated Will's face as he steadied his breathing.

Will quickly took out his phone, switching it to his Kindle. The book he had just been reading was about a boy in which he just found out he could do magic. Will read for only a few minutes wishing to conserve his battery life. He brought the book to the section he was looking for.

Quickly realized that his magic was like a muscle. The more he used it, the stronger it became, but it was also easy to overexert himself which left him without much strength and put him in danger. In order to truly wield this strength, he had to train this new muscle to make it grow stronger and at the same time, make him stronger.

Will read only that section before he turned the phone off. Now deep in thought, Will sat on his makeshift bed for an hour, drinking water from one of his summoned canteens. Before long, he felt the strength of his aura return. It had been as if a flood of energy enveloped him, leaving a feel of completion setting over him.

Yet again, Will closed his eyes and circulated his aura to his hand, and yet again, the ruby flame appeared from nothing. This time he timed himself with the flame lit. Staring into the strange flame, Will felt as if it had always been there though his old world had not allowed it to exist. The magic itself wasn't as outlandish to him since he grew up reading, watching, and listening to nothing other than the worlds within fictional novels and movies. In a way, magic had always been a part of his life.

Within fifteen seconds, Will felt the pull of his strength once more as the flame returned to his aura. He picked up the canteen once again drowning out his exhaustion. He sat yet again for an hour waiting for his strength to return. As soon as he felt his aura strengthen, he summoned his flame once more.

Twenty seconds, twenty-five, thirty. By the time Will was done, he was able to keep the flame going for two minutes. Though he could still continue working, the sun was already rising and he had to get to work. He had promised Maya that he'd get firewood chopped for breakfast, and Will wasn't one to go against his word.

With tired eyes, Will made his way to the shack. “Well, Dad, I wish you could see me now,” Will said as he looked up to the already fading stars. A faint smile dawn his face as he thought of his father. One day he would return, but right now he had to work hard to make him proud.