Alex woke up as the sun broke over the horizon. He hadn''t dreamed at all, but he was rested. It was like most of the times he tried to sleep since he had been changed. It took very specific circumstances for him to experience sleep as anything more than just a moment of darkness before waking up.


    Faint orange light filtered through the upper window of the barn, lighting the second floor. Alex listened as he rested against the door. Up above, he could hear faint breathing. Sam was still asleep. He could hear the donkey resting in its stall as well. He stood carefully and worked the latch on the barn door. There was a slight creak to the metal as he unlatched it, and he paused to make sure that both of them were still asleep. They were. He went outside and closed the door just as quietly as he had opened it.


    He wasn''t leaving yet. He just wanted to get to know his surroundings in the light of day. The mist''s nature obscured all senses. Not only did it inhibit sight, but also smell and even senses granted by a curse like his magnetic control.


    The yard wasn''t that different from those he had seen before, and the farmhouse would have been idyllic if not for its disrepair. A single dirt road led off into the distance, and several fields lay fallow over the hills down that road. Alex made his way around the house and was surprised to see a large orchard on the other side of the house. To see apples and green grass growing in the desert was like walking into an oasis, and a small pond in the middle of the orchard added to the aesthetic. It was like a little piece of paradise.


    Alex smiled until he saw the two gravestones beneath the largest of the apple trees. He made his way over to them and knelt to read. Abraham Appleton and Evelyn Appleton. The same text was below their names.


    "Planting the seeds of old to start anew in tribute to our home, Boston," Alex whispered.


    He wasn''t the first person to be transported to the nightsea. As near as Alex could tell, it was a common enough occurrence. There were those like Sam, who was born on an island, a native to the nightsea. Then there were those like himself who came from other worlds and made the best they could.


    "You couldn''t find a way back," Alex said, shaking his head. "I wonder if it is a better life to accept that there is no going back."


    He stood up and made his way toward the pond. He thought back to how he came to the nightsea. He had returned home to Buenos Aires after spending four years and far too much money to get his political science degree at Columbia University. He was flying home to see his parents when a blinding light came across the horizon.


    He woke up on a beach in the middle of the night. At the time, he had no idea where he was and no idea what had happened. The people who captured him after that were how he learned about the new world he was stuck in.


    "I just want to go home," Alex said as he looked down at his reflection in the pond.


    His reflection said nothing in response. Alex sighed, turning back and walking through the orchard and back toward the barn. He could only deal with one thing at a time. A lifetime ago, he would say he was only human. Now, he wasn''t so sure.


    "That''s a problem for another time."


    Sam was waiting for him when he returned to the barn, her arms crossed by the door. Alex was sure he had been as quiet as possible. Apparently, he had woken her up nonetheless.


    "You ready to go into town?" Alex asked, looking her over.


    "After my chores." She raised her eyebrows at him. "You being here doesn''t change that someone has to take care of this farm."


    Alex looked at the farm a second time. He didn''t say his first thought, that the farm was barely hanging on, but instead smiled and nodded.


    "Give me some of them. I''ll help out if it means we get to town faster."


    <hr>


    A guilty weight settled into Sam''s stomach as she went inside after giving Alex a list of chores to do. She didn''t mind the help, but he had asked for more than what she had given him at first until she had no other normal chores left over.


    Her stomach rumbled as she washed herself and changed back into her clothes. She remembered when she had more clothes, even Joshua''s repaired and stitched-together hand-me-downs. Now, she was down to just the one that wasn''t threadbare and didn''t have the money to buy more. She couldn''t even sew, something her mother could do, but she never had time to learn. Her mother was taken from her before that could ever happen.


    She stopped after getting dressed, crouching down and hugging her knees tightly to her chest. It was selfish. She should have been out doing chores, but having Alex there gave her time to breathe for the first time in a long time.


    This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    Tears ran down her cheeks, and her every breath staggered out from her chest. In and out, she focused on each breath. She closed her eyes tight to the world as the tears flowed. She had taken for granted how much working hard from dawn until dusk kept her distracted.


    She missed how her mother would cook her a warm breakfast every morning. She missed how her father would teach her how to work around the farm and treated her like she could become anything she wanted one day. She even missed how her brother would tease her about being the youngest.


    She missed them more now than ever before.


    Sam spent a long time kneeling in the bathroom. It wasn''t until she was sure that all of her tears were out that she moved on to the kitchen. She didn''t have much left, especially after her failed shopping the day before, but she at least had eggs. Neither of them would go hungry because of that.


    She started up the wood stove and set about cooking scrambled eggs. She even took out some of the precious salt she saved for special occasions. As she worked, she could hear some work outside. Someone appeared to be hammering on wood, and she could hear wood cracking as it was peeled away.


    She ignored it. Worst to worst, Alex was utterly ruining what was left of the farm unsupervised. She had the feeling that the next time she went to town, it would be the last day she would see the farm. Once the townsfolk found out she had brought in an outsider, that information would make it up to Goldfist.


    One time was enough to see what he did when he was angry. Once they went into town, her farm, her life was on a timer. By helping him, she was placing a lot of trust in Alex.


    "But what else is there?" she asked herself. "Stay here and rot away like a tree with rotten roots, or put my trust in that man and hope. There ain''t no choice between the two."


    The eggs were done, properly scrambled, and ready to eat. She placed the pan on the table and gathered two plates and two forks. She couldn''t do much to thank the man, but she could make sure he got fed.


    She went outside to get him, only to find Alex already walking toward the house, a hammer and bundle of nails in his hand. The chickens were out in their fenced-in yard, feeding. Winny was out of the barn and already strapped into the cart''s harness. Several of the smaller holes of rotten wood in the barn were covered, and she was sure that he had done other things she couldn''t see. The farm wasn''t perfect, but Alex had taken the time to fix as much as he could.


    "Breakfast is ready if you want it," she said, her own hunger dulled at how fast he had finished the chores.


    She had half expected to have to help out after they ate, but she wasn''t as sure now. If he had already watered all the animals, they would only need to make sure that the chickens made it back inside the henhouse before they left.


    "Good," Alex said as he let go of the hammer and nails.


    To Sam''s surprise, they floated in the air, making their way over to the farmhouse independently. The hammer corrected any loose planks of wood with a few solid hits, and the nails held themselves in place to secure the wood as it came around to hammer each of them in with one mighty swing. She had never seen anything like it.


    "You alright?" Alex asked as he walked past her and into the kitchen, taking a seat at the table even as the hammer continued working.


    "Scions above," Sam whispered, her legs turning to jelly and falling to the ground. "What is that?"


    Alex reached down with one of the provided forks and scooped a quarter of the eggs onto his plate. A smile cracked his face as he dug into the eggs, eating them with the speed of a hungry man.


    "It''s my curse," he said bluntly as he ate. "You saw me take those creatures out with the staff last night, right? This is similar, but more about control and less about power. It''s good training."


    She had thought that he was just skilled with a staff. He was strong, but no stronger than she thought many of the men in town were. She thought about how he had thrown his staff and how it had returned to his hand.


    "You can control things with your mind," she said, helping herself stand up and making her way to the table.


    As shocked as she was, it didn''t change the fact that she was hungry.


    "No," Alex said. "I can manipulate metal with my mind. Everything metal has an inherent magnetic field around it. I can control the strength of the field around myself and influence the field around other things."


    He let go of his fork to demonstrate the point, using it to dig into some more eggs and bring them to his mouth. Sam watched, but it still didn''t make any sense.


    "You say it''s your curse, what is that?"


    "You ever see that deputy fight?" Alex asked, but Sam shook her head. "That makes it harder. Some people are cursed. They have powers over certain things, whether their own body, a particular element, or just some weird stuff. For some people, it''s like magic. They wave their hands and cast spells. As far as I can tell, it is all just a curse. People tried to explain it to me before, but it boils down to spooky powers that some people have."


    "Never heard of it before," Sam whispered.


    "To be fair, unless you see a lot of travelers, chances are you would never have seen it," Alex said. "Considering the current situation, the chances of that are slim."


    Sam frowned. She hated how he kept reminding her of that. He seemed to be a fine enough fellow, but he was about as blunt as a rock every time he spoke.


    "Sorry," Alex said, setting down his fork. "I''ve been at this life a long time. This world isn''t the nicest. I forget that real people are getting hurt out there. I''ve seen a lot of different islands, and the one constant is suffering."


    "Not in the Twelve Kingdoms," Sam said. "The Scions make sure of that. If I had to go anywhere, it would be there."


    He looked at her as if he had something to say but held it back. A grimace cut across his face, but it was replaced with a small smile. Sam suddenly felt like a child again, about to get reprimanded. Her face burned.


    "Maybe someday you''ll get to see them," Alex said. "Just don''t get your hopes up. Goldfist is your first problem."


    Sam and Alex finished their breakfast on lighter talk, even as the hammer went on by itself outside. In less than a quarter of the time it would have taken her on a normal day, the chores were done, and they rode off in the cart to town.