Neither of us well remember the details of our escape, but we must have gotten to the forest because that is where we wound up.

“I got a little bit of food and water when I was leaving the castle, but not much. We’ll have to get to a city soon.”

“A good plan in any case. There’s dangerous animals in these woods.”

“Not so dangerous when you can do magic, eh?” said Michael jovially.

I wasn’t as convinced. “Well, we’ll see when one tries to maul us, I suppose.”

The question didn’t remain up for debate for long though, as a silver wolf walked out from the brush and spared only a moment to eye us hungrily before charging. Michael was, to simultaneously my happiness and chagrin, proven correct as a single fireball not only killed the beast but also started a small fire in the otherwise very moist plant debris on the ground.

“Hey hey! Dinner and a show! We could make a proper cooking fire out of this. Only two spells and you’re already a walking utility kit.”

I admit, I had a pretty big grin on my own face at that point. I mean, I could do MAGIC! That’s AWESOME! I didn’t know why, but for now it seemed to be serving me pretty well.

After we both hauled the carcass out of the immediate fire, I cleared a circle around what was burning and Michael collected fuel to build it up. Once that was done we took turns using his sword to cut a piece out of the wolf and cook it. The meat was tough, but satisfying.

Once we had both had our fill we just sat together on the lea side of the fire, staring in to the darkness beyond.

“Did your parents get away from the city?” I asked.

“I don’t know. They weren’t in their rooms when I got there and I couldn’t find them afterwards. They wouldn’t've fought against that kind of force, though. My mom has family in Denali. That’s where they’d go if they escaped. It’s the closest place we could go, too.”

“Mm…” I said. I was worried about my uncle. He was an old man these days, and even when he was young he was more of a noble than a labourer or soldier. He couldn’t have gone to battle even if he’d been foolish enough to try. He was all the family I’d ever had.

“Hey, I saw the kings entourage heading south while I was still looking for my parents. I bet your uncle was with them!” said Michael. He wasn’t a very good liar though, and I could tell he was just trying to cheer me up. Still, even if he had not seen any such entourage one had probably happened. If my uncle had gone anywhere it would be Denali. Seeing as how that’s where we were going anyways, there didn’t seem to be much to be gained by fretting.

“Yawn!” Michael said aloud. Not, like, he yawned: he simply said the word “Yawn”. “That’s not how yawning works!” I told him.

“Yeah yeah yeah. I’m gonna sleep. You roast any more big bad wolves that try and attack me. Gimme… I guess we don’t have any clocks anymore… Well, wake me when the moon is high and you’re tired, and we’ll switch watches.”

“Roger wilco.” I said. “Sleep tight, Michael.”