BAILEY. WATCH FOR THE ECLIPSE.

  How is this written in English? Why is it addressed to me - the real me?

  Somebody knows my secret!

  Amos dropped the note, letting it float to the wooden floor. He rushed over to the window and poked his head out.

  It was difficult to see in the dark moonlight, but he was looking for the person who left the envelope. Amos squinted and scanned across the entire portion of the farm observable from his window. He was met with nothing but the quiet solitude of night.

  Amos sucked his teeth and closed the shutters. He checked the lock for signs of a break, but there were none.

  Leila definitely closed this... She said something about "the madness..."

  Am I going insane?

  Amos shook his head - that wasn't it. This was targeted.

  There were a lot of things happening that didn't add up. Initially, he had just been grateful for a second chance at life. Now, it seemed like there were external forces at play.

  He returned to where the message lay innocently on the floor and picked it up. He looked it over and over with wide eyes but no secret message revealed itself to him. There was no sinister purpose to it, other than letting Amos know that someone knew about his true identity - a veiled threat in the shape of a request.

  Amos committed the note to memory. The handwriting, though smudged, seemed childlike and scratchy; unsure of itself. The wax seal was uniform and cold. The sender must be institutional enough to have used a stamp.

  Should I know this seal?

  It's too dangerous to ask Kien and Leila...

  Amos crumpled the note and held it over the wick of that thin candle his mother had brought in. He watched the flames consume it with his heart beating like a drum trying to escape the cage of his ribs. The fire took to the dry paper quickly, licking up every last piece and erasing it from existence.

  Amos stomped on the dregs of the fire, extinguishing the embers lest they light the house ablaze. He nodded in satisfaction, standing over the ashes of his secret resting in the wood grain.

  This is far from over. My journey has only just begu-

  "AMOS!" Kien's voice called from across the house, "BED! NOW!"

  ...

  The next day, at breakfast, Amos assures his parents he rested well.

  He did not.

  All night, he lay under the scratchy patchwork blanket, staring at the ceiling. His brain was in overdrive, thinking through all the possibilities and implications of the message.

  With his parents put at ease, and breakfast put in his belly, the group of three set out to the fields. The process of fertilisation and seeding had already been completed. Now, the farmers had to ensure that there were no weeds growing in their crop. It was an arduous process that spanned the entirety of the growth season.

  The task required Amos' utmost attention so he didn't accidentally pull out an emerging wheat seedling. Luckily, the wheat was only just beginning to sprout and Amos was able to target the more obvious, established plants.

  The process involved using a small spade or pick, depending on preference, to dig out the weeds. Kien drilled into Amos the importance of getting out all the roots, or else the "Damned things will take over the whole field, then we'll have no crop!" They were placed in a bucket for sorting later.

  Leila told Amos about the medicinal uses of some of the plants they removed, while others would be saved for pottage. Amos wasn't sure about weed soup for dinner, but after the back breaking work, he would probably take anything.

  It was truly a great physical effort. Kien was right about the importance of weeding, but with the amount of wheat field the Aquilas possessed, the task became gargantuan. In an area of ten thousand square metres, it would be reasonable to expect millions of weeds to take hold.

  As such, the grueling physical labour shortly induced pain in Amos' back, arms and legs. He was the youngest, though, so he wiped the sweat from his brow and kept working anyway. While he did so, his thoughts turned to last night's letter. It had become an obsession.

  Someone knows.

  He pulled a weed.

  Knows who I am. Whose body this is. Where I live.

  He pulled another weed.

  Even worse - what if the soul is involved? What if that's how they found me?

  Another weed in the basket.

  The writing was in English. Shaky, true, but still...

  There might be others. Others like me.

  Bend. Dig. Pull. Basket. Next.

  And how were they able to get to my window? It was locked, I'm sure. I would've heard it open - I heard the paper rustling.

  The basket was getting full.

  And the eclipse... Why? When? What happens if I don't?

  No name, either. No explanation. Just a warning... Or threat. Both?

  Amos wiped his brow and checked the position of the sun. It wasn't even midday yet.

  The only identifying part of the message was the wax seal...

  Pisces and twelve stars...

  Argh! I can't protect myself from something I can't even see!

  Amos continued spiralling like this for the rest of the day. Altogether, he managed to collect nineteen baskets worth of the weeds. The rest was a job for the coming weeks. When the sun set, Amos was only relieved the work was over. He went inside the farmhouse and fell asleep at the table with his basket still in hand. He dreamed of nothing.

  Eventually, Amos was awoken by a gentle hand patting his shoulder.

  "Wakey wakey, son," Kien's gentle voice cooed, "your mother made us some delicious weed soup!"

  Leila was standing in the kitchen, in Kien's usual egg cooking spot. She held up a wooden spoon like a threat, "It's stew!"

  "Sorry, dear!" Kien coughed, then looked at Amos, "delicious weed stew!"

  "Mmm! My favourite!" Amos joked, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. If he could have anything in the world at that moment, it would be an extra five minutes of slumber.

  "There's my son!" Kien exclaimed. He took the dangling basket from Amos' hands and placed it in one of the store rooms. Leila served up three heaping bowls while he did so.

  The stew was yellowed and runny, interspersed with streaks of wilted leaves and some kind of legume to give it a thickness. The steam wafted into Amos' face and his stomach growled. He ate ravenously. It wasn't too bad, all things considered.

  After dinner, they all spent some time chatting and laughing. Amos' heart wasn't really in it. He was thinking about the wax seal on the letter.

  "Hey, uh, Mum and Dad," he interrupted their banter, "weird question."

  "Hit me!" Kien said.

  Leila reached over the table and tapped his shoulder lightly. Kien shot her a look of mock hurt. "You asked for it," she shrugged.

  Amos smiled. "I was just wondering... that is, um, I mean... I forgot what your star signs were..."

  Leila looked at him with a grim expression, humour drained. "Well, your mother's a Gemini and I'm a Virgo," Kien laughed, "so if I catch the madness, keep a firesteel on hand!"

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  Not Pisces. That's one thing ruled out at least.

  "Don't joke about the Drai, dear. They're a serious problem."

  "Ahem. Sorry," Kien looked down at the table, then back at Amos, "You should really remember our birthdays anyway, boy."

  Drai again... madness...

  "Yeah, sorry," Amos said, rubbing the back of his head. He let the topic drop.

  ...

  In the following week, Amos attempted to return to the Infinite Lake. He wanted to speak to his soul again. To seek clarification, information, anything.

  Unfortunately for Amos, his parents were watching him like hawks. His recent behaviour had become so concerning to them that they rarely let him out of their sight. Perhaps the question about star signs and the conversation about Drai - whatever that was - had amplified their attitudes towards him.

  At night, he would lie awake trying to cross the boundary between worlds with sheer willpower. He thought about it really hard. He tried meditating. He tried drawing pentagrams out of ash and he tried astral projection. He tried prayers and he tried mystic luck rituals from his old world that he had read about online. He tried falling - that was how he entered the Lake last time - from heights of increasing severity until he lost courage.

  None of it worked. He remained, each and every time, squarely in reality.

  Amos also made sure to watch the sky every night. He wasn't confident the letter had his best interests at heart, but the demand was too cryptic to resist.

  Amos had previously remarked on the colours of the stars being different to those on Earth. He wasn't sure if this world had electricity, living in the countryside as he did. Regardless, its absence meant that light pollution couldn't obscure the stars from his sight. They were brighter and more plentiful than he had ever seen in his old world's sky. The cloudy nights made Amos feel an inexplicable sadness.

  However, no matter how hard he looked or how hard he tried, there was no eclipse and no return to the Lake.

  As the week progressed Amos became increasingly disquieted by the absence of any noteworthy events. It was like he had been reincarnated for no reason, no grand purpose.

  Just to work on a farm.

  ...

  It was a hot day when the stranger walked onto the farm. They came from the east, on foot. The Aquilas were hard at work weeding, as per usual, so they didn't notice the stranger until they were on the same field.

  They wore a dark cloak with the hood pulled down low. It cast a sharp shadow in the bright sun. If it didn't, all anyone would see was a white clay mask, painted to feature two ouroboros on each cheek. The figure used a gnarled staff wrapped with dirty blue cloth as a walking stick. It was slightly larger than the figure, but that wasn't saying much considering they were... vertically challenged.

  "Hello!" the stranger called out. The three sweaty workers looked up from their toil to appraise the newcomer on their property. The figure was waving a hand high above their head energetically, the sleeves of the large robe flapping about to expose a pale, twig thin arm.

  The robed stranger ran up to be closer to Amos and his parents. They struggled with the large pack on their back and tried to avoid trampling the sprouting wheat crop.

  "Hi!" they said. They bounced over, coming to a stop and almost lost their balance due to the large pack they carried, "Woah! I'm looking for Yakob Aquila. Is this the right farm?"

  "Yes, this is the right farm," Leila responded first, "I'm Yakob's mother, Leila. That's Kien and Amos."

  The figure nodded enthusiastically. Their mysterious hood began to look not so mysterious as it bounced around. "Leila, Kien, and Amos. I know all about you guys! Oh, my name's Shanty, by the way, I go to school with Yakob. You wouldn't believe the amount of farms I've been to while asking for him along the Armastan River. Like, sooooo many!"

  Kien stepped forward, wiping the sweat off his brow. He extended a hand to Shanty in greeting. Shanty looked at the sweat from behind their mask and reluctantly took it.

  "So you're a smarty-pants like my son?" Kien smiled, "Give me a fun fact."

  "Uhhh, oh! Okay! Listen," Shanty took a deep breath, "Emperor Maur II was originally named Bogik Oodle before his ascension! Bogik! Oodle! Did you know that? I bet you didn't. The Trenmir try to cover it up, but it's pretty easy to find when you're looking at historical texts all the time... Anyway!"

  Amos tried not to laugh, noticing that his parents didn't find the name Bogik Oodle amusing. Kien nodded appreciatively, though, storing the new knowledge for later.

  "I'm looking for Yakob for a, uh," Shanty continued on, but seemed to lose their line of thought. They pulled out a little scrap of paper and skimmed over it, before their eyes lit up, "school project! That's right! We're working together on a research project at Avidia Institute. Can't believe I forgot... Silly me!"

  Kien and Leila exchanged a glance.

  "Yakob's not here at the moment, sweetie," Leila said.

  "Oh, is he out working? He told me farm work was really hard, like you could get muscly just from doing it all the time. Is that why you look so strong?" Shanty pointed at Amos.

  "Ah, maybe..." Amos blushed.

  "Yeah, don't be shy. I could tell you work day and night just by the shape of those things. Even if Yakob never gushed about how hard of a worker you are and how nice and strong and brave..." Shanty trailed off, "Anyway! I'm happy to wait for a while. I brought some cards with me so we can all play together if you want! Or, no, sorry, you guys're probably busy. I totally get that, I'll just play by myself - Solitaire!"

  In the midst of the heat and their hard work, the fast-talking stranger was too much for the Aquilas' collective brains to keep up with. Shanty walked a short distance away and shrugged off their pack and started digging around in it, searching for cards, presumably.

  Leila turned to her husband. "This one's all you, my love." Then she went back to weeding.

  Kien turned to his son. "How about you go talk to Yakob's friend, Amos?"

  "What! Why me?" Amos said.

  "You're the least sweatiest - sweaty? I don't know," Kien shook his head, "I just can't keep up with that energy. Go get rid of the wackadoodle."

  "I don't think..." Amos began, before being cut off by a pleading look from his father, "Alright, fine."

  Amos wiped his hands on the front of his work apron and approached Shanty. Their walking stick was lodged in the dirt next to them, the large pack laid against it. They had found a pack of cards and were laying them out in the mud and grime. The order seemed random - or at least unfamiliar - to Amos.

  "Hey, Shanty..." he started.

  Shanty was crouching over the cards, perched on their heels. They looked up at Amos and revealed their mask to the bright sunlight. Up close, the clay was textured with bumps and lines that seemed to be an attempt at smoothing the surface. The mask covered Shanty's entire face, except for two eyeholes which were steeped in shadow, even when facing the light. The design was intricately painted with reds and blues - two snakes consuming their own bodies on each cheek, mimicking a circular blush that Amos thought resembled mimes in his old world.

  "Oh, Amos! Can you help me? I don't actually know how to play Solitaire," they said.

  "You..." Amos was stunned, "No, I mean, aren't you here for Yakob?"

  "Oh, well yeah, but he's not here right now so I figured I'd pass the time by playing a game. He'll be back soon right?"

  "Uh, no."

  "What do you mean? Is he gonna be ages?"

  "He's not here, Shanty."

  "Yeah, I know that, goofball. I said I'd wait."

  "No, like, he's not here. At all. Anywhere."

  "Oh my Stars, where's he gone off to now?"

  Amos thought back to his first day in this new world, "Um, I think he was going to Tarton. Leila asked him to go past Botre Village to pick up cake or something."

  Shanty went still. Dead still.

  "So, he's going to be back in..." Amos counted in his head, "another week or two?"

  "No."

  "Huh?"

  "No, he's supposed to be here now."

  "Well, he hasn't come back yet."

  "Something's not right." Shanty left the cards in the mud and turned to the large pack. They rummaged around for a few moments before pulling out a leatherbound journal and flicking through the pages. It had a symbol pressed into the front that Amos recognised...

  The wax seal from the letter!

  A Pisces symbol with twelve stars!

  "She definitely said now..." Shanty mumbled to themselves, "her divination's never been wrong before..."

  "Shanty," Amos interrupted their train of thought.

  "Mmm?"

  "What does that symbol mean?" Amos pointed at it.

  "Oh! It's from school - you know the Avidia Institute? I'm in Pisces house. You weren't actually supposed to see that. Xae-" Shanty caught their tongue, "My teacher says that its not good for normal people to know about us."

  "I've seen it before."

  Shanty went back to their journal, scanning the pages. "Really?" They said disinterestedly.

  "I got a letter. With that symbol on it."

  "Oh, that's weird. Did you read it?"

  "Yeah. It told me to 'watch for the eclipse'."

  "Yakob told me you couldn't read."

  "When?"

  "Oh, you know. We talk all the time, so, things come up."

  "Whatever."

  "Whatever yourself."

  "You know something about the letter."

  "Yeah, alright," Shanty looked up at him, "I sent it, you goofball."

  What! Shanty sent the letter? They know my secret! I don't even know who they are, they could be dangerous!

  And now they're looking for Yakob - what if they tell him everything? I'll be ruined!

  Amos reeled. "Who are you really?"

  "Uh, I told you. They call me Shanty. 'Cos I get stuck in your head. Like a song, y'know?"

  "What did the letter mean? Why did you send it? How do you know my name?"

  "Dunno, dunno, and Yakob told me about you." Shanty - not caring for the interrogation - stowed the journal and got up, "I didn't write it and I didn't read it. Whatever's in there is between you and the stars."

  Amos sighed inwardly.

  So they're not the one I need to be worried about. There's someone else at work here - their teacher? This Xae- person?

  "Look, if Yakob's not here, then I have to go find him," Shanty continued, shouldering the pack, "Just do whatever it says. We have your best interests at heart."

  "Wait, I have so many questions."

  "I'm sure you do. I have to go, though. Oh and one more thing," Shanty turned to stare at Amos. Something flashed within the pits of darkness that were the eyeholes in that clay mask, "don't go in the forest."

  "Why?"

  "There's super scary Drai in there!" Shanty made noises like a ghost to mock Amos.

  "Drai?"

  "Yeah, like..." Shanty stopped messing around, "do you not know what a Drai is?"

  Amos just shook his head.

  "Huh. I guess not everyone can be as educated as Yakob, especially out in the backwaters of Mauria like this."

  Mauria! My country is called Mauria! Finally!

  Wait, was that an insult?

  "Wow, I've never had to explain this to anyone before," Shanty said, "Basically, they're regular people that have been changed by an eclipse. They hear the Gods and go insane, blah de blah. Oh, and every single Drai is evil. Suuuuper evil! Apparently, anyway."

  Watch for the eclipse...

  Should I try and become a Drai? Will the powers help me restore this body to its soul?

  "What do you mean by evil?"

  "Oh my Stars. It's just what the Trenmir say. Go ask them if you care so much."

  "But they hear the Gods? What does that mean?"

  "Look, I have to go. Like, right now," Shanty stepped back a bit, "Just don't tell anyone about what you're about see. And remember: Do not go into the forest."

  Shanty pulled the blue cloth covering their gnarled staff down to reveal squarish markings carved all over its surface. They tapped two in quick succession, then breathed out slowly. As they did, the carvings filled with a blue plasma. It appeared to be leaking from the wood like sap, rising from its innards. When the symbols were full, they didn't overflow, but glowed brighter.

  "Look at me," they said, "Stay away from where?"

  "The forest?" Amos guessed.

  "Good!" Shanty gave Amos a quick wave, then turned and sprinted away. They moved at an inhuman speed - almost incomprehensible to Amos - causing the air to crack as they left. Their legs were a blur and they kicked up a trail of dust.

  The wind buffeted Amos as he watched Shanty go. It played with the dark robe and threw back their hood. Amos squinted against the sun, and he swore he saw two little horns poking out against the stranger's silhouette.

  "What was that noise?" Kien called out from where he was working.

  "Shanty just left," Amos shrugged.

  Watch for the eclipse...