The wind still howled outside, reminding him of a higher-pitched Luna. Outside, the snow swirled even more intensely than before, the wind now carrying faint harmonic tones that reminded him of the portal. The sky flashed with strange, magical colors, a mixture of the northern lights with purple flashes in between.

  John looked over to see if Kaelin was worried at all as they settled down by the fire again, now that their meal was finished. But she strangely had his phone in her hand.

  “Is this a rune?” she said, flipping the thing over in her hand. Because she had touched it, the phone turned on, glowing before Luna, who stared at it like any child would at a bright object.

  “Oh no, that’s not a rune,” John said, taking it back for a moment as she held it in her hands. “I honestly almost forgot about it.”

  “What is it?” she asked, her eyes not looking away from his lock screen, which—to his embarrassment—was just an AI-generated image of a forest he had found pretty on social media.

  “It’s kind of like magic,” John said, his mind struggling to think of a way to explain it. “You can call and text people and email or go on the internet and⁠—”

  But the more John spoke, the more Kaelin’s eyebrows raised in confusion.

  “Okay, it’s like magic,” John said, seeing no other way to explain it.

  “It doesn’t seem to carry much usefulness if you haven’t touched it in a while,” she said, handing John the phone.

  “Well, it’s not the magic that I miss very much,” he said, seeing the hundreds of messages from Steven, his manager—or well, his former manager now. His later texts, which stopped just a few days ago, indicated that he no longer had a job and had been swiftly replaced by another office drone.

  What a shock.

  “Why don’t you miss it?” she asked, stroking Luna in her lap, whose eyes began to droop again by the crackling fire.

  “It’s hard to explain,” John said, feeling a surprising amount of peace and realizing he had not even thought about his old world that much. He placed his phone on the table next to him before scooting closer to the fire.

  “I don’t really know how to explain it, but I don’t miss any of our technology. Out here, working with my hands, talking to people such as yourself, and exploring the world—it’s the most magic I’ve ever experienced in my entire life.”

  Kaelin’s lips warmed into a smile before she looked away, running her fingers over Luna’s crystalline, faceted fur.

  “If only we had more people like you before the end of my world,” Kaelin said, her voice barely a whisper.

  John returned the smile, uncertain of how to respond but thankful nonetheless.

  Kaelin decided to play again as the storm continued howling outside. The fire crackled longer into the night thanks to his increased Hearthcraft and Kaelin’s rune. But not long into her second song, Luna suddenly lifted her head, her ears twitching.

  Kaelin didn’t stop playing until Luna quickly bounced to her feet and padded to the door, where she growled softly.

  “Luna?” John asked.

  Kaelin didn’t stop playing until Luna began to whine before barking and scratching at the door.

  John and Kaelin looked at each other, uncertain what had gotten into her. The two of them rose to their feet to investigate.

  “What is it, Luna?” John asked, kneeling beside her with Kaelin.

  But Luna continued frantically scratching the door.

  “Do you need to go poop or something?” John asked.

  But when Luna gave him an are you serious look, with one crystal eyebrow raised, John immediately put that idea aside.

  “Do you hear that?” Kaelin asked, leaning closer to the door and placing her long, elvish ear against the seam.

  “The wind?” John asked, doing the same on the other side. There wasn’t much distance between them, and her sweet breath rolled over his face as they tried to listen.

  He heard the wind outside smacking against the door, and he nearly pulled away until, just barely underneath the storm, he heard the faintest sound.

  It sounded like a distant shout, only to be swallowed by the wind.

  But then he heard it again.

  Someone was yelling.

  “That sounds like a call for help,” John said, his blood racing as he rushed to open the door, just cracking it open to see if he could perceive where the shout was coming from. But the moment he opened it, a freezing blast of wind smacked into his face along with a hail of snow.

  For a second, he thought he was blinded. But then he regained his sight as he rubbed his eyes and raised his hand before his face to see. All he could see was the snow covering every surface of Meadowreach. The teal-blue fairies were still there, but in lesser numbers now. Some had drifted off elsewhere during the storm.

  The yell came again, distinctly deep.

  Luna howled. She pushed her way through the crack in the door, opening it more before dashing out into the snow after whoever it was.

  “Luna!” John shouted.

  But neither of them could stop her.

  Kaelin grabbed his arm, her fingers curled along his plaid shirt.

  “We can’t let her be alone out there,” she said, worry in her voice. “I’ve seen too many fall in these types of storms.”

  John nodded. There was no hint of hesitation in the decision that had to be made.

  “I can hold a fire spell for now, to give us sight,” she said, withdrawing her grasp from his arm and flexing her right hand, where a tiny spiral of fire danced from the nothingness between her fingers. “My mana is pretty high, so I can hold it. But we can’t stay out there forever.”

  “We can make it quick,” John said, threading his arm into hers. “Hold on to me so we don’t get lost or separated.”

  Kaelin nodded, pushing herself closer to him as they stepped outside and closed the door.

  The two of them pushed forward into the snow that was almost up to their knees, the snow crunching beneath their footsteps as they labored forward. The snow whipped violently over and all around them. They could hardly see ten feet in front of them, though Luna’s crystalline fur glowed faintly in the storm.

  She continued barking, which helped them pinpoint her direction when the wind picked up too much, and they lost sight of her for a few seconds. At first, John thought Luna would lead them to the frozen stream by their home. But she took a sharp left towards the sprawling meadows.

  And she went very far. At least, that’s how it felt being mostly blind in the snowstorm.

  Warmth: 70/100

  Warmth: 60/100

  Warmth: 50/100

  John’s warmth only stabilized thanks to Kaelin’s fire spell and her body pressed against his—which he tried very much not to think about.

  Thankfully, Luna at last came to a stop in front of a frozen sapling where a familiar person was dangling by one foot.

  It was a dwarf.

  He was suspended slightly in the air by John’s trap.

  Hunting (+10): lvl 1 (20 / 100)

  John’s stomach dropped: he had caught a dwarf. The creature was short and broad, with a white beard frozen with ice, along with medieval plated gear and a pickax tied to his belt. His broad chest was moving up and down slightly as he hung, probably close to being or already unconscious.

  “He’s still alive,” Kaelin said quickly, kneeling with her fire before him.

  Perhaps because the flame was next to his face, the old dwarf muttered weakly.

  “There are never storms in any mines,” he said, before passing out again.

  Kaelin looked at the trap and then at John. “Did you⁠—”

  “I didn’t make it for dwarves!” John said, his stomach souring with guilt. Had Luna not heard his cry, there was a good chance the dwarf would not have made it.

  He still might not if they didn’t act quickly.

  John and Kaelin immediately lifted him together, with Kaelin using the fire in her hands to burn through the cordage from the trap. Unsurprisingly, the dwarf was extremely heavy. John buckled under the weight of the dwarf as he lifted him from behind through the shoulders, while Kaelin grabbed his feet.

  It felt like he was trying to drag several wooden trees back to his camp at the same time instead of one at a time.

  Luna ran ahead to guide them back to the cabin. John was thankful she did, as he barely paid attention to where he was going, given the extreme weight of the dwarf. He collapsed several times in the snowy forest during the process.

  “Keep going, John!” Kaelin shouted, her golden hair whipping in the wind, though the berries and leaves woven into her strands remained.

  John did his best, struggling to rise each time. Blessedly, John’s back smacked against the log cabin wall not long after. With his free hand, he hauled the door open against the wind. Luna dashed inside. John and Kaelin dragged the dwarf in as more snow hurled into the log cabin, dusting the walls with snow and causing the hearth to nearly flicker out for a moment.

  The moment Kaelin crossed the threshold, John dropped the dwarf, perhaps a bit too hard, and rushed to slam the door closed. An immediate silence followed. He even placed the brace back over the door for good measure.

  “I’ve got the hearth,” Kaelin said, rushing to the dwindling fire and strengthening the rune that gave it life. To John’s relief, much of the wood had not burned away, and it quickly reignited.

  John turned his attention to the dwarf, where Luna was curled right next to the dwarf’s head as if that could provide him with some heat.

  “Let’s bring him toward the fire,” Kaelin said, now that it was blazing again.

  The two of them dragged the dwarf, who almost looked like a relative of Luna, given how much ice covered his body. The dwarf moaned as they laid him next to the fire, and the ice began to melt. His body was dangerously cold as they lay him there, but Kaelin checked his pulse underneath his bushy white beard.

  “He’ll make it,” Kaelin said.

  She looked over to the blanket that John had draped over her earlier and now wrapped it over the dwarf. Luna reseated herself next to the dwarf, getting into his beard this time and looking rather concerned.

  As they stared at the dwarf for a few tense moments, the ice melted away from his goggles. John understood why the dwarf looked so familiar.

  “I’ve seen him before,” John said. “It was when I was with Luna a while back. We were exploring the Meadowreach Valley, and he was there, mining in the earth in a little cave. I actually made my trap that day. I had no idea that he would walk into it.”

  Kaelin smiled.

  “Both of those things do not surprise me,” she said playfully. “Your trap held very well, given it was your first. As for what he was doing there in the mines, well, there are plenty of precious resources beneath the dirt, though I tend not to go to the mines.”

  Before John could inquire why, the dwarf began coughing.

  The dwarf’s eyes snapped open beneath his foggy goggles, which looked too big for his head. He looked around wildly at first, then his eyes settled on Kaelin before squinting.

  “Oh no,” the dwarf muttered. “I’m in the wrong afterlife.”

  John and Kaelin both burst out laughing. Even Luna wagged her tail excitedly, whom the dwarf turned to look at with a strange glance, and then to John with an even more bewildered expression.

  “You’re still alive,” John said, holding out his hand as if greeting someone from his old world. The dwarf looked down at John’s calloused hand and shook it.

  “My name’s John,” John said, giving the dwarf a firm shake. “You’re in my log cabin.” He left out the part about his trap being what subdued him.

  The dwarf, still shaking his hand, turned to look at John’s rather modest home. Though the dwarf didn’t say anything about John’s log cabin, his eyes remained squinted as if looking at all the possible upgrades he could add to make it more of a proper home.

  “Name’s Brax,” the dwarf said, squeezing John’s hand firmly before withdrawing.

  The dwarf pushed himself up, the melting ice falling off his armored chest and his pickax slightly scraping against the wood. Luna jumped off immediately, going into Kaelin’s lap.

  “It was Luna here who found you out there,” Kaelin said, nodding to her, whom she stroked in her lap.

  Brax, keeping his goggles on—which maybe was just his thing—raised a bushy white eyebrow before chuckling to himself.

  “Thank you, stone pup,” he said. “I really thought it was the end there.”

  “It nearly was,” John said, quickly trying to change the topic. “That snowstorm was pretty awful out there.”

  “I know,” Brax said, grumbling. “Did you know that there is never any storm in the mines? I shouldn’t have tried looking for the portal until it was over. Every dwarf knows a mine is his best friend. Or, at least used to know.”

  The dwarf looked down at his wet feet for a moment, watching the snow melt off his boots slowly. It was the same look Kaelin often had when reflecting on the world before its demise.

  “Here, let me get you some stew to warm up,” John said as he stood to his feet. Food would help keep the dwarf’s mind occupied.

  John walked to the table, grabbing what was left of the stew and pouring it into his bowl, hoping the dwarf wouldn’t mind eating out of it. And as he did so, his eyes caught one of the snow fairies, who lingered just outside his window. The fairy’s eyes caught John’s for a moment, and a sense of endearment passed between them. John had no idea why the snow fairy was watching, but the fairy gave John a thumbs-up before leaping into the snowstorm and disappearing.

  Strange, John thought to himself.

  Though he quickly forgot about the fairy as he brought back the steaming stew to Brax, who was in the middle of tinkering with some tiny gears and springs.

  “Thank you, John,” Brax said, placing down the little metal contraption he was making, which, now that John looked closer, looked like a dog collar.

  Brax immediately chugged the stew, some of it getting into his beard. Once he finished, his hands resumed tinkering with the collar he was making. Before John knew it, Brax had finished it and handed it to Kaelin for Luna.

  “My thanks to you, stone pup.”

  Kaelin happily obliged, putting the collar on Luna.

  Companion Bond (+20): lvl 2 (5 / 150)

  Companion Bond Level 2 Unlocked — Companion grows slightly. Luna’s senses improve, allowing her to locate useful materials nearby, hidden objects, passages, or other creatures.

  The system also gave John twenty-five points to his character level.

  Level (+25): 3 (85 / 200)

  Luna immediately grew, about twice the size, but not quite the size of a full-grown wolf. Luna jumped to her feet as her body grew, and she proudly raised her head, her metal collar with the engraving Stone Pup in the middle flashing proudly on her crystal neck.

  “Don’t worry, John,” Brax said as he turned to look at John. “I’ll repay you for the rescue. As soon as I get a good night’s rest, I can make something useful for you or this place. I’ve got plenty of ideas too.”

  John began to protest, especially since he was responsible for nearly ending Brax’s life. “Oh, you don’t have to. It’s okay, really⁠—”

  “Nonsense!” Brax said, shaking his big beard. “That was some of the best stew I’ve had in eighty years. And I’ll probably require some more food before the storm is over. I’ll have to repay you. I insist.”

  “All right,” John said.

  Without asking, the dwarf made good on his promise of eating more of their food when he reached over and devoured a rather good amount of wild meadow berries, leaving John with ten food stores. Enough for five days, at the very least. But still, with Luna and Brax between them, they would probably run out fairly quickly.

  Nevertheless, Brax was satisfied, and he curled himself up by the fire, still keeping his goggles on for some reason. John and Kaelin let Brax go to sleep, which he somehow did immediately. Luna, too, went and curled up in her little dog bed.

  John and Kaelin were left alone.

  Outside, the snowstorm was still raging, but it was significantly less than it had been earlier.

  “We make a great team,” John whispered, his body suddenly exhausted.

  Stamina: 5 / 100

  Kaelin smiled, pushing back some of her golden hair behind her elongated ear.

  “Good night, John,” she said.

  She paused, though, before turning to her little sleeping bag by Luna. She hesitated, but then rushed in to hug him. Although it was very quick, it was the best gift John could ever receive.

  John let Kaelin have the blanket and pillow, which he was okay with, while he used his sleeping bag on his bed to keep warm. He was aided by Kaelin’s rune, which had added tremendous heat to the fire, and his Hearthcraft skill kept it alive much longer than he would have imagined.

  And although Brax was snoring, nearly shaking the room with how deep it was, John too passed out in the cozy log cabin with his first and only friends.

  19

  STAY

  John woke up to the strangest sight.

  The room before him was extremely bright thanks to the powdery snow dusting his window and covering every inch of the forest beyond.

  Kaelin lay still asleep near the hearth, wrapped in his blanket, the worry lines on her face gone and replaced with a look of peace. Luna, surprisingly not in her bed, was in John’s bed, snuggled against him. She had gotten longer, looking more like a small wolf than a dog that could fit in a purse.

  Brax was already at work and tinkering away with dozens of different parts, gears, and crystals. The dwarf was hunched over the dining table, goggles always on, muttering to himself as he worked on what looked like a compass.

  Before John could get up and ask him what he was working on, he received a notification from the system.