Plains (3rd month of Autumn, 2nd day, 4th hour, night)

  The plains stretched endlessly, dotted with black skeletal trees. Beneath Aya's feet, the ground had transformed — a thin crust of ice now covered the earth. The sound of crunching accompanied her every step as her heels broke through the ice and bit into the malleable, cold dirt. In summer, this place would be a morass, impossible to traverse. But now, the mud had hardened from the cold, becoming springy and pleasant to walk on. The only downside was the unmistakable trail of footprints left in Aya's wake.

  For an hour, Aya kept a good pace, but eventually, the backpack began weighing her down. Besides, the great plains offered little to track her progress. She would choose a tree in the distance, walk to it, then pick another and continue onward. Soon, the necropolis vanished into the undulating terrain.

  Ixi, who had initially followed her, at some point flew ahead into the moonlit expanse. When Aya reached the next tree, she found Ixi perched on a branch. The fairy fluttered down and latched onto Aya's shoulder. Ixi was light for her size, but Aya nearly lost her balance from the sudden pull. The fairy looked her in the eyes with a needy expression. Aya interpreted it as a request, fed her, then pointed at the tree far away. Ixi took flight in the direction shown.

  Aya's power had fully recovered, and she used it liberally to strengthen herself and feed Ixi. The moon had almost set, which meant it was half-past five. She kept walking, determined to get as far from the battlefield as possible.

  Aya had almost reached the next tree when darkness fell, making it hard to walk. She stopped, waiting for her eyesight to adjust to the starlight. Standing there in complete darkness, she suddenly felt Ixi's presence about fifty feet away, high above the ground, sitting in the tree. A minute passed, but she still couldn't see the ground beneath her feet. Aya conjured the smallest magic flame she could and reached the tree in its unsteady light.

  The backpack fell to the ground, and Aya sat beside it. Leaning against the rough surface of the trunk, she extinguished the light and looked up at the sky. There was some starlight after all, though very faint. The stars were almost invisible, but the sky as a whole had a weak purplish sheen to it. Her keen eyes could make out jagged branches cutting through the spectral glow above. A shadow darted between the branches, Ixi flew down with a soft rustle and perched herself on a tree root beside her.

  "Let's eat."

  She took out dried bread and jerky, and they ate. Ixi refused the bread but chewed on the jerky and accepted the water.

  Aya contemplated walking farther. There should be enough time to reach the next tree in the distance. On the other hand, she risked losing her direction in the darkness.

  The ground beneath her feet was hard gravel. The wetlands had ended not long ago. This was good because her footsteps were finally invisible, but she had to leave her tracks further behind. She stood up and faced north — or what she felt was north — trying to make out the next tree. There was something black ahead, a bit to the northwest, though she wasn't sure. She decided to go anyway.

  She put on the backpack. Ixi sprang into the air and landed on top of her, using the backpack as a saddle. She was relatively light, and Aya decided to let her stay. She conjured a small light and ventured into the blackness.

  Walking in a small circle of light, she lost all contact with reality. The wind became still, and no sounds came from the empty plains. She could no longer see outside the illuminated circle at her feet. Her movement became mechanical, and thoughts disappeared, dissolved in the monotony of steps and breathing. It was as if nothing existed outside her little pocket of light and air — only a vast, primordial void.

  She kept walking, trying to keep straight, when she sensed a magical glow outside her bubble. The presences began to appear in the void around her. Far and near, bright and dim, of all sizes and colors. The bright bulb of Ixi's presence behind her shoulders. The spiky, sleepy presence of a tree ahead. The latter made her realize that she had veered off course and correct herself.

  She kept walking and kept observing presences. They were everywhere. A small, lucid spark on the ground — a mouse fleeing her path. A faint collective glow of living things within the soil. The shining torches of great power far in the distance.

  All this she did not see, but sensed things around her. If was similar to the usual magical probing, but worked without draining power. Her trance ended when she almost collided with a tree. She shook her head, and the magical sight collapsed. She saw the world through her eyes again. It was lit with the greyish light of approaching dawn.

  Ixi flew up and settled in the branches. Overwhelmed, Aya sat by the tree, ate a piece of bread from her pocket, and drank some water. The flask at her belt was almost empty. The haze of day was lighting up the horizon, rapidly dispersing the darkness.

  Aya stood up. There was one more thing to do. She took off her cloak and padded jacket. The frosty morning air pleasantly stung her body, still heated from walking. Her wounded side was covered in brown stains from dried blood. She bent over and carefully washed the skin, shivering from the ice-cold water.

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  Finally, she examined what should have been the wound. A freshly sealed scar, still tender and new, marked her skin. Aya frowned, trying to remember last night's battle. She distinctly remembered someone stabbing her with a sword. The stab had gone under her ribs, bringing searing pain. Then she had been crawling to the breach in the wall, stomping boots around her. Then she lay among the stones, warm blood running between her fingers, pooling on the pavement. Surely such a wound couldn't have closed overnight. And yet, all she saw before her was a fresh scar of modest proportions.

  This could only be explained by the work of a healer. But there had been no healer among them. Her master might have possessed an amulet with healing powers, but he was unlikely to have used it on Aya. Not to mention, he had died in that same battle. This was a mystery, but Aya found in her heart that she didn't care. The problem had solved itself, and that was all she wanted.

  The dawn was in full bloom now. She wiped her side and hastily put on her clothes. Finding an appropriate depression between the roots, Aya lay down, using her backpack as a pillow. She wrapped herself in the cloak as best she could and fell asleep almost instantly.

  Blizzard (3rd month of Autumn, 2nd day, 17th hour, evening)

  Aya woke with a happy thought. She had seen a fleeting dream. In it, a strange idea had come to her — that the frozen plains weren't real, that they were just a nightmare. And she wasn't Aya, but a little girl sleeping in her garden. The thought had filled the girl's heart with bliss. No need to walk endlessly, no need to fear for her life — her mother was somewhere nearby, and she could go and hug her right now. Aya opened her eyes, smiling. She saw a black, spiky tree towering above her, a bleak, cold sky, and a few snowflakes dancing in the air. The girl's happiness, still lingering in her heart, turned sour. Her own dream had betrayed her so cruelly.

  She sighed and sat up. Her whole body was so cold and stiff it was hard to move. This must be what the undead felt like when raised from their graves. She suppressed the urge to lie down and freeze, and instead, strengthened herself. The familiar rush of power passed through her, but it brought no warmth. At this point, she resorted to desperate measures — exercise. Aya stood up and began jumping in place like a maniac, hugging herself and rubbing her shoulders. Eventually, the blood started flowing, and she felt better.

  A branch creaked. Aya looked up, but there was nothing there except the naked tree.

  "Ixi, are you there?"

  Ixi's head appeared from a hollow high up in the trunk.

  "Come down, let's eat."

  Aya sat on a root and opened her backpack. Ixi gracefully descended and plopped down beside her. They ate in silence, watching the snowflakes fall. There weren't many, but the ground was gradually being covered in a white, fluffy layer.

  After their meal, Aya fed Ixi magic. This time, she tried to channel it very slowly, observing the connection between them. Not much came of it. She could sense Ixi's magical core — a small, hungry thing — but couldn't discern anything new about it. It was eager to drain power but easily satisfied. After a few moments, the drain stopped, and Ixi let go of her hand.

  The daylight faded slightly, though dusk was still an hour away. The snowfall was picking up, obscuring the view with its white veil. She could barely see the trees half a league away. Aya preferred to move under cover of darkness, but in this weather, it hardly mattered. Better to walk than sit in the cold, she decided, and stood up. She picked up her backpack and moved on.

  Ixi sprang into the air and followed her for a while before settling back on her. Her cold hands hugged Aya's neck from behind. Aya sighed and continued walking.

  Night fell quickly, and soon, nothing could be seen more than a few paces ahead. Aya conjured a magical flame, and the falling snow around her shone and sparkled in its light. She was already warm from walking, and her body kept the rhythm automatically. Her thoughts drifted.

  She remembered the dream and its strange emotions. The feelings of safety and homeliness were alien to her. Aya had never been comfortable in her life. Her bed had stood in a cramped room with five others. It was neither cozy nor particularly safe. Yet in the dream, the girl had been in her own garden, by her own house. Could a little girl even own a garden?

  The moon had risen, its disc blurred by falling snow. Still, it gave enough light to see the ground. Aya dismissed her flame and continued. The snow was getting deeper.

  Suddenly, Aya realized she had passed the tree she'd chosen as a landmark earlier. She couldn't see it, but sensed its magical radiance nearby. She decided to skip it and aim for the next one.

  In her mind, she already trusted her new magical sense. Besides the small objects around her, she could still detect the same three distant beacons of power she had noticed the previous night. The first, and the closest, lay far to the north, and Aya used it as her guide. The other two were to the northeast and west — the western one being the strongest and most distant. They each had a distinct quality — something like a color or a musical tone — though she couldn't describe it in words.

  Aya walked for another hour. The snowfall seemed to be subsiding, but the wind was rising, flinging sharp icy grains into her face. She pulled up her hood. Ixi, still riding on her back, shifted slightly. She was sleeping peacefully, unbothered by the cold.

  What a weird creature, Aya thought. A mix of natural and magical. She breathes, eats, has emotions — yet she ignores the cold and feeds on magic. Aya had never heard of such a thing. She knew warlocks and magicians kept familiars... could this be the same?

  The snowfall gradually turned into a blizzard, the wind growing stronger. It was still mild, but Aya decided to stop and made her way to the nearest tree. Ixi flew upward but soon returned and sat in the snow. She was visibly struggling to fly in the wind.

  Aya circled the tree, searching for shelter, and spotted a burrow — a hole in the ground leading to an animal den. Fortunately, it was vacant and large enough for her to crawl inside. It stank, but not unbearably. She climbed in feet first, pulled in her backpack, and called for Ixi. The stubborn fairy hesitated for a moment but eventually crawled down headfirst. It took some shuffling to turn her upright.

  Lazily, Aya thought about eating, but Ixi was already asleep, breathing evenly. Deciding not to bother, Aya wrapped herself in her cloak and drifted off.