The sun began to set before she knew it. The forest was quickly turning dark and the sky was a bright orange. The sun's last hurrah before her sister took over. Atraeya wanted to finish up with the sickle, after waiting for her mana to replenish so she wouldn't feel sick like last time. Once again, the processes was easier but she could neither put a reason as to why than she could before. She had to have been getting better. She was a growing girl after all, and using mana was a skill she would naturally get better at the more she used. Pride welled within her as she finished the scythe in no time at all.

  She grabbed her basket alongside the scythe and opened the door to a startling darkness. She had never seen a night so dark. And so alive, too. Blackness reached toward her from the forest, stretching to envelop her. She could hear the grasshoppers chirp and the owls waking.

  Atraeya gulped. What other creatures of the night did gramps warn her about?

  A wolf howled, close enough to hear the tail end of it.

  She needed to get home fast.

  Atraeya broke out into sprint, her heart beating in her ears, quickened from the strain and the nerves. Twigs snapped beneath her feet and branches scraped against her arms. Her hair got caught on a branch and she nearly tripped on a rock or raised stump— she didn't stop to check what it was in her rush to get home. She didn't dare look back, or stop to listen if anything was following her. The thought was too frightening.

  She tore herself free, feeling a curly knot rip from her head. Something ran off to her side, hopefully a deer who had been caught as unaware of the passage of time as she did. Still, she blinked away the tears forming in the corners of her eyes and kept running. She hopped over the forest floor and tore through the branches, gasping for air as she followed a shortcut through the forest.

  The gleam of the torches that peaked through the shrubbery sent relief down her spine. Home! It gave her the energy to make one last push through. She shoved past some bushes, and was out into the clear field. The question now, was if she was safe. Had something followed her, she could scream now and someone would hear her. She dared to peak back.

  Nothing.

  No glowing eyes, no footsteps chasing her. Just the sounds of the night waking up.

  Atraeya came to a halt, gasping for breath. Her heart pounded against her chest, desperate to keep up. The cold, summer night's wind brushed her sweat away, and she shivered. She wouldn't have been able to run that long when she first arrived. Yet more progress, which she wanted to celebrate when she got the chance.

  She was safe for now, at least. Gramps would still be worried, so she sped walked the rest of the way home. The streets were mostly empty, and the few souls still out were heading home late after a hard day's work.

  He was indeed waiting for her. Not carving, like he usually would, but pacing around outside. Their eyes met and he frowned. "You think just because I didn't scold you yesterday you can go off who knows where and come back even later?" He immediately launched into nagging her about her lack of respect. He started to wag his cane at her, shoving it in her face and everything even after they made it inside and closed the door.

  Even Atraeya could see he was upset and worried. He was limping harder than usual, and his eye bags seeped deeper into his face. He had stayed up waiting for her, worried to death. Even though his words said the opposite, he only said them out of love. "I'm sorry," she said, interrupting his speech. "I won't do it again."

  "Good. I don't want to hear another peep out of you. You are to head straight to bed."

  "No dinner?" He stared at her, his frown deepening by the second. Atraeya sighed. She deserved it. "I understand."

  "And from now on you're not to go into that forest without Poe."

  "What?! But-but Poe doesn't like witches! How am I supposed to make potions with him around?"

  Gramps' only response was to close his bedroom door. She looked down at her basket, still in her hands, with the magical sickle in it. After all that, she wasn't so confident about doing this anymore. But… just a little while wouldn't hurt. And she would be right there by the door. She could run in at any time if something dangerous came out. She nodded, having fully convinced herself to disregard all safety measures.

  Atraeya wasn't about to leave as soon as she walked through the door. No, it was better to wait for a bit until gramps fell asleep, and it was dark enough that most folks in the village had also gone to sleep. She got herself ready for bed, leaving only her shift. She found herself yawning and even drifting off at times, only to be woken by her stomach. If only she had her book. That would be an easy way to pass time. Some of the letters were starting to stick, but she was still a far ways off from being anywhere near proficient.

  Once she was sure it was late enough, she grabbed the sickle, and oh so carefully opened the front door. Slow enough to not creak, and only just wide enough for her to slip past. A partial moon shone through drifting clouds that hid even the brightest star. It was rather dark tonight, which made it the perfect night for magical experiments.

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  After a quick check to make sure no one was around, she placed the sickle on the floor. It took a moment, but eventually it got up, and went row by row in the garden, weeding out anything undesirable. Atraeya had to stop herself from whooping out a cheer and waking folks up. She excitedly watched the sickle work until she heard some huffs and a snort past the fence.

  There stood a wild boar, digging through their garden with it's huge tusks. She could scream, but it seemed completely oblivious to her. For now. Her safest bet was to head back inside. Unfortunately, her scythe was too far from where she stood. It was nearing the boar, so there was no way she'd get it back right now. But she had to if she didn't want to be found out come morning.

  Clouds parted to reveal the moon once again, and it's beams of soft light glinted off the iron sickle. It caught in the boar's eye, who squealed in startlement. Without any hesitation it charged at it, knocking it away. Atraeya helplessly watched as the scythe skidded out of their yard, far, far out of her reach. The wild boar huffed, pleased with itself for getting rid of such a dangerous threat to it's life.

  Atraeya took one step back, and it's attention snapped toward her. The hair on her arms stood on edge, anticipating an attack. She had heard stories of how dangerous boars were. Men had died from their wounds before. Strong men, men much more skilled in battle than she ever could be.

  It must have deemed her as another threat. It began to slowly circle her, huffing and snorting. It never took it's eyes off of her, and she was too mortified to move properly. She could tell it was getting worked up though. Foam began to form around it's mouth. She was about to become it's dinner. Then, out of the corner of her eyes, two more wild boar stood watch. How many more were there?

  Her eyes scanned the area in horror. A few more had been rummaging around, and now watched. A few even had piglets wander near them. An entire sounder had come into the village and were about to tear it apart unless she got help.

  The second she turned back to the wild boar circling her, it charged. Atraeya screamed and jumped out of the way. Her high pitched wail rang throughout the town. The wild boars went up in a frenzy at the sound, and they began to run around, squealing and kicking up dirt. She tripped in a rush, her face almost planting itself in the ground, and scrambled to get up. She turned around to see the board had skidded to a stop, and already turned to charger her again.

  Another scream, and she rolled out of the way, dirt now covering her from head to toe. Her only shift was now dirtied beyond belief. She was sure she was squishing the plants too but that didn't matter at the moment. As soon as she could, she jumped up and scrambled away. The boar was hot on her heals. If she couldn't get the door open in time, either her legs would be impaled or the door would be broken down.

  She turned away from the house in a sharp turn, almost slipping on the dirt road in turn. It couldn't turn as quickly, which meant if she just looped around she could slow it just enough to get the door open. However, she would also need to dodge the other boars running around in rage.

  One such boar came right at her, and she made another turn to evade.

  "Atraeya?" gramps called out. "What in blazes is going on out here?"

  He opened the door! She could make it. Atraeya made another tight turn toward the house. The wild boar were getting real angry now. Squealing and snorting as it charged full speed after her. "Move out the way!" she called out. Gramps stood right in the doorway, where she could collide right into him if he continued to just stand there.

  He finally noticed what was going on, it seemed. His eyes widened in terror, and he reached out for her. Unfortunately, Atraeya was right in the path of a piglet, which a mother boar took for a threat. The next thing she knew, she heard a crack and her feet were in the air. Atraeya screamed out in pain and went tumbling forward from the momentum, rag-dolling towards her home as gramps watched on in horror.

  She tried to get up, but it was so hard. Her leg moved in a weird way and made sounds it shouldn't. She heard a man's voice from behind her, crying out then a squelch and a squeal. "Go!" someone shouted. Atraeya didn't need to be told twice. She began to hobble and skip toward gramps, who by now had abandoned his cane and rushed over to grab her. She fell into his arms, tears already brewing in the corner of her eyes even though she wasn't entirely sure why.

  Gramps helped drag her back inside. She heard more shouting behind her. She wanted to look but she was a bit too scared to. "It hurts," she mumbled through her choked back cries.

  "I know, I know. Let's get you inside first and we'll take a look at that leg." Her leg got hurt? Yes, that made sense, she supposed. It was hard to walk, and it felt like it was on fire.

  Once they were inside, gramps placed her on the bench and she screamed out in pain when her hips twisted to lay down properly. Her nails gripped the sides and fresh tears poured out. She lifted her head to see what was wrong, but gramps immediately covered her eyes. "Don't look. Just close your eyes and breathe, I'll go get someone who can help you."

  He left before she even had a chance to agree, but she did as she was told. She kept her eyes closed, and she focused on breathing. As the adrenaline began to recede, pain crept back in. Bile threatened to crawl up her throat and her body felt like it was on a spinning plate. Blood dripped onto the floor. It sounded so far away, even though she knew it was likely her leg that was bleeding. Gramps didn't panic so it probably wasn't that bad. It was probably a good idea to follow his instructions though.

  After what felt like forever, the door burst open. For just a moment it sounded like chaos was right on her doorstep, then it closed and all was silent again. "Atraeya?" gramps called out.

  "It hurts." She sniffled, but resisted the urge to cry, even though her leg was in so much pain.

  "I brought Chief Trina. She knows how to help."

  "My boys have gotten into worse scrapes than this, don't worry."

  "They have?" Atraeya asked.

  There was a silent beat. "Just keep breathing, darling. Elmer, get something for her to bite down on. We don't want her biting off her tongue."

  Elmer's hobbled footsteps rushed towards the kitchen and began to rummage. She felt Trina grab on to her thigh and lift it just a bit. That much was all it needed for a fresh spike of blinding pain to shoot through her entire leg and hips. She screamed out once more, and this time she couldn't stop herself from crying. Her hands scratched at anything to grip.

  "Will this do?" Gramps sounded so far away.

  "It'll have to. You're gonna need to hold her down too. Keep her leg still."

  Their wooden spoon was shoved into her mouth, and pressure was placed on her body. It might have been painful, if she hadn't already been in excruciating pain from her leg.

  "I've got the hot water! Oh my god," someone else said. She couldn't hear or see who it was.

  "On three. One… two…" Crack. She screamed out, as loud as she could past the block of wood. She was glad it was there. Her leg burned, and it felt all wrong.

  Then she passed out.