The door slammed open.

  I flinched under the covers, clutching my stylus to my chest like a lifeline.

  "Vivian!"

  Nora was there in an instant, tearing the blanket away. Seeing me awake and wide eyed, she scooped me up, burying her face in my neck. Her heart was hammering against my chest like a trapped bird.

  "It's okay, baby. It's okay. Mama is here."

  She was trembling.

  A moment later, heavy boots thudded on the floorboards. Oliver strode back in, chest heaving, his face dark and dangerous in the moonlight. He wasn't holding his usual woodcutting axe. He was holding a heavy iron poker from the fireplace.

  "Gone," he growled. "Fast. Whoever it was, they vaulted the fence before I could even get a visual."

  Nora squeezed me tighter.

  Oliver looked at me, his expression softening only slightly. "We sleep in the same room tonight. All of us."

  "But..."

  "No arguments, Nora."

  They took me to their bedroom. Oliver dragged the heavy chest of drawers in front of the door. He didn't sleep. He sat by the window, staring out into the yard, the his axe resting on his knees.

  I lay between them, feigning sleep, but my mind was racing.

  'The shadow. It was looking .Did it see me writing runes under the table? If they know I can use magic...'

  I squeezed my eyes shut.

  'I'm just a baby. Just a baby. Just a baby.'

  I woke to the sound of hammering.

  Violent, rhythmic impacts that shook the floor.

  I sat up. The space beside me was empty. Nora was gone. Oliver was gone.

  Panic flared instantly. I scrambled off the bed, my little legs pumping as I ran to the main room, then out the front door.

  Oliver was there. He was reinforcing the perimeter fence, nailing thick planks over the gaps. He looked exhausted, his movements jerky. Nora stood nearby, her arms crossed, biting her lip.

  "...why now?" she was whispering. "After so long? It's been years, Oliver."

  "I don't know," Oliver grunted, driving a nail home with a single blow.

  "I don't want to know," Oliver said. "And I don't care if it's them. No one touches my family."

  Then, they saw me.

  The transformation was instant and jarring. Oliver dropped the hammer and plastered a wide, fake grin on his face. Nora smoothed her dress and forced her shoulders to relax.

  "Good morning, sleepyhead!" Nora chirped, her voice an octave too high. "Look at Daddy fixing the fence! Making it strong!"

  "Strong!" I repeated, playing along. Inside, I felt cold. 'They are terrified.'

  Usually, Oliver went to the woods. Today, he walked us to the hut, staying a step behind, his head swiveling constantly.

  When we arrived, the Hut was already buzzing. Alicia looked up, her eyes sharp.

  She saw Oliver and stiffened.

  "Go play with Lily, Vivian," Nora said, giving me a gentle push.

  "Okay," I said.

  I walked toward the toy corner where Lily was stacking blocks. But the moment the adults turned away, I ducked behind a tall shelf filled with dried herbs.

  I held my breath.

  "Someone was at the house last night," Oliver’s voice was low, urgent.

  "Last night?" Alicia’s voice was grim. "Here too."

  Silence.

  "What?" Nora gasped.

  "The perimeter wards tripped around midnight," Alicia said. "The alarm sounded in my room. By the time I got outside, there was nothing. No tracks. Just a disturbance in the mana field."

  "They are targeting us," Oliver said.

  "Stay here," Alicia said instantly. "The Hut has wards. Real ones. Not just fences."

  "We can't," Nora argued. "If it is them, bringing trouble to your doorstep... we can't rely on you more than we have, Alicia. You've done enough."

  "Don't be stupid, Nora," Alicia snapped. "You know who I am. You know my history. They might be after me, not you. If that's the case, you're safer here where I can control the defenses."

  "But—"

  "Go get your things," Alicia commanded. "You're staying until we figure out what this is."

  Oliver didn't hesitate. "Done."

  "Oliver!" Nora protested. "We can't just..."

  "We are going," Oliver said, grabbing her hand. He began dragging her toward the door. "We get the essentials, and we come back."

  They were leaving.

  'Wait. Essentials?'

  My mind flashed to the roots of the Great Tree.My buried arsenal.

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

  If we were sieged here, I was defenseless. I needed my weapon.

  I burst out from behind the shelf. "Wait!"

  I ran toward them, trying to squeeze through the door before they closed it. "Me go! Me go too!"

  "No, Vivian," Oliver said firmly, blocking my path with a massive leg. "You stay with miss Alicia. We'll be fast."

  "But—"

  They were closing the door. Panic seized me.

  "At least bring my slingshot!" I shouted.

  The door froze.

  Oliver looked down. Nora looked down. Alicia raised an eyebrow.

  The silence stretched.

  I realized what I had said. Perfect syntax. Clear enunciation. Zero toddler stumbling.

  My face burned.

  I shrunk back, looking at my feet. "Me... want... shoot toy."

  Oliver blinked, then let out a breathy, nervous laugh. "Right. The toy. I'll bring it, son. Be good."

  The door clicked shut.

  I stood there, mortified.

  "Well," Alicia’s voice came from behind me. "Someone is eloquent when they're panicked."

  I turned slowly. She was grinning.

  She swooped down and picked me up under her arm like a sack of flour. "Come on, little linguist. Lesson time."

  She carried me to the back room and sat me down. She started droning on, but I couldn't focus. Every creak of the floorboards sounded like an intruder. Every shadow looked like a man watching from the window.

  Alicia sighed. "You're useless today."

  She opened a drawer and pulled out a silver band. It was simple, unadorned metal.

  "Here," she tossed it to me.

  I caught it. It was cold.

  "It's an artifact," she explained. "A stealth focus. As long as you push mana into it, it bends light and sound around you. It hides your presence. Perfect for a boy who likes to eavesdrop behind shelves."

  My eyes widened. 'Invisibility?'

  "Put it on. Practice."

  I slipped the band onto my wrist. It was loose, but it shrunk to fit my arm instantly.

  'Okay. Mana in.'

  I pushed my flow into the metal.

  Vwoom.

  The world shifted.

  It wasn't like disappearing. It was like being trapped inside a kaleidoscope.

  Everywhere I looked, the air shimmered. I saw reflections of myself, distorted, stretched, upside down, hovering in the air around me. It was like wearing glasses made of mirrors that faced inward.

  And the sound...

  The ambient noise of the hut, the wind, the creaking wood, vanished. It was replaced by a dull, throbbing hum, like my head was wrapped in cotton or submerged underwater.

  "I don't like it," I said.

  My voice didn't go out. It slammed back into my ears, loud and echoing, vibrating inside my skull.

  "Ow!"

  I cut the mana flow. The world snapped back to normal.

  "It's broken," I complained, rubbing my ears. "It's loud inside. And I can't see properly."

  Alicia leaned back, looking smug. "What did you think? That you would just vanish? That's fairy tale magic, Vivian."

  She tapped the bracelet. "To erase your presence, you have to contain your existence. Light doesn't bounce off you to others, it bounces back to you. Sound doesn't escape your throat, it echoes back into your head. If you cut yourself off from the world, the world cuts you off in return."

  She pointed at me. "Try again. And this time, keep silent. If you make a noise inside, you'll deafen yourself."

  I glared at her. 'I hate you.'

  But I needed it. If the shadow man came back...

  I pushed mana into the band.

  The mirror cage returned. The underwater pressure filled my ears. I sat perfectly still, trying to ignore the dizzying reflections of my own annoyed face floating in my vision.

  It was exhausting. The artifact drained mana fast.

  I held it for ten seconds. Then twenty.

  Pop.

  I lost control.

  "Again," Alicia commanded.

  I did it again. And again.

  By the end of the hour, I was trembling. My core felt like a wrung out sponge. On the last attempt, the world went grey, and I tipped over, face planting onto the mat.

  "And... he's out," Alicia noted.

  I woke up a few minutes later to voices in the main room.

  I stumbled out, still wearing the bracelet.Oliver and Nora were back. Bags were piled by the door.

  They were arguing.

  "We shouldn't impose," Nora was hissing.

  "We can sleep in the common room."

  "Nora, please," Oliver sounded desperate. "Alicia offered the guest room. It has the strongest wards."

  "It's too much!"

  I rubbed my eyes. They were at it again. Nora’s pride vs. Oliver’s paranoia.

  I waddled over, tugging on Nora’s dress.

  "Mama," I said, putting on my best innocent face. "Dad is protecting. Miss Alicia said yes. Pwease? Scared."

  Nora looked down at me. The fight drained out of her instantly.

  She sighed, brushing hair from my forehead. "Okay. Okay, baby. You're right."

  She turned to Oliver. "Fine."

  Oliver exhaled, his shoulders slumping. He patted my head. "Good job, son."

  Lunch was a subdued affair. I ate my bread, watching the other children. Finn was trying to stack cups on a cat’s head. Freya was drawing on the floor. They were laughing.They had no idea that adults were fortifying the perimeter.

  I felt a pang of envy so sharp it hurt.

  Oliver and Nora tried to act normal, chatting about the weather, but their eyes kept darting to the windows. They were terrible actors. Alicia was the only one eating calmly, reading a book as if she weren't hosting a potential siege.

  The afternoon dragged on. The other parents came, collected their kids, and left.

  We stayed.

  As the sun began to set, casting long, creepy shadows across the floor, Nora stood up.

  "Dinner," she announced, trying to sound cheerful. "What does everyone want?"

  "Those potato patties were good," Oliver suggested.

  Nora shook her head. "We don't have eggs. And... I forgot the root powder at the house."

  "Turmeric," I corrected automatically.

  Nora blinked. "What?"

  "It's called turmeric powder," I said, a bit annoyed. "Not root powder."

  Nora stared at me, then let out a dry, stressed laugh. "Right. Turmeric. Well, we don't have it."

  "Steak it is," Alicia said, closing her book. "I have some venison."

  Dinner was delicious, but no one really tasted it. We ate quickly.

  When night fell, the Hut transformed. Alicia went around tapping the window frames, and they glowed with a faint blue light. The wards were active.

  "We sleep in the back," Oliver said.

  He laid out our bedding on the floor of the guest room. Then, he sat down by the door.

  He reached into his long bag and pulled out a weapon.

  It wasn't his axe.

  It was a sword.

  A longsword, the metal dark and gleaming, the hilt worn leather.

  "Sleep," he told us. "I'll keep watch. Stick close to me."

  I stared at the sword. 'He brought a sword?!!.'

  Then I remembered my own artillery.

  "Daddy," I whispered. "Toy?"

  Oliver looked confused for a second, his hand tightening on the hilt. Then he remembered. "Ah. Right."

  He reached into his pocket and pulled out my slingshot.

  I took it, feeling the smooth wood. "Rocks?"

  "Oh," Oliver frowned. "I didn't bring any..." He paused, seeing my face fall. "Wait."

  He stood up and went to the back door, opening it just a crack to reach into the Hut's garden path. He scooped up a handful of gravel.

  "Here," he whispered, dumping twenty small, smooth stones into my lap. "Now sleep. Nothing is going to happen."

  He went back to his post. Nora curled up on the mattress, pulling me close. Within minutes, her breathing evened out, exhaustion taking her.

  I waited.

  One hour. Two hours.

  Oliver’s head nodded. He jerked awake, then nodded again.

  I carefully slipped out of Nora’s arms. I pulled the blanket over my head to muffle the light.

  I took a pebble. I took my stylus.

  'Grenade time.'

  I worked in the dark, feeling the mana flow more than seeing it.

  [Strike Detection]

  [Mana Accumulator]

  [Trigger]

  [Boom]

  It was slow work. My mana was still low from the bracelet training.

  I finished one. Two.

  My head spun.

  Three.

  My hands shook.

  Four.

  "Vivian?"

  Nora’s whisper was loud in the silence. The blanket was ripped back.

  She stared at me, at the stylus, at the pebbles.

  "Sleep," she hissed, taking the stylus from my hand and tucking it under her pillow. "Now."

  She pulled me back down. I was too tired to argue. I closed my eyes, clutching the four enchanted pebbles in my fist and stored them in my pocket.

  I drifted off.

  CLANG CLANG CLANG!

  The sound ripped through the air, a harsh, metallic alarm bell screaming from the roof of the Hut.

  My eyes snapped open.

  Oliver was already standing. The sword was in his hand, the blade humming with a faint white light.