“There!”

With a deep breath, I lifted the first cow. It let out a low moo at the sudden motion. Easy there. I rolled her onto her stomach. She got up without a second thought and strolled away. Eta always was the resilient type. I marched over to the next cow. As I was kneeling by them, a shadow loomed over me.

“Huh?”

I turned around and my face collided with a tongue. It dragged itself across my face. The owner let out a satisfied moo and went back. I guess that was Eta’s way of thanking me… I rubbed at my face with my sleeve and rolled the cow over with my free hand. What could have caused the cows to tip over? Rene was taking a bit longer to stand up so I patted her back.

“Take as long as you need.”

Foolish human! How dare you lock me away! I promised you infinite power!

I rubbed my ear as I pulled a biscuit out of my pocket. Too loud. Even after wrapping the metal in several layers of cloth and stuffing it into a side bag, it didn’t get the message. I had to settle with ignoring it in case interacting signed any soul contracts.

Rene stood up so I rubbed her head. As I tried to eat my snack, Rene decided that she wanted to join in. I leaned away as she tried to lick the crumbs off my face. Down girl! What’s with everyone today? My eyes drifted upwards. Someone was peering over the fence. Someone that looked like the intruder. Wait, that is the intruder.

“Hey!”

I waved at him. He flinched. At that moment, Rene took advantage of my distraction and shoved me over. I grabbed her by the neck and flipped onto her back. It’s gonna take more than that to pin me… What was I doing again? Oh yeah, the intruder.

“Intruder guy! Over here!”

He shot up. It’s good that he’s up. Yeah, this is better than dealing with a dead body. What has he been doing all this time? I beckoned him over. He took a step back and leaped over the fence like it was normal. Weren’t you bed ridden a few hours ago? Shimmers really are different. He winced as he landed. Or maybe not.

Still… to bounce back from what looked like his deathbed to slightly sore is a lot. He ambled up to me.

“What are you doing out here? Not running away I hope.”

Ha, that’s quite funny. How could he run when he’s injured? I should tell Josie that one. It’s easy to get lost around these parts. He probably just wandered off from whoever he was with and found me.

“What? How could I, a man of the Golden family, ever run away?”

“I wouldn't blame ya.”

Your family has nothing to do with whether you choose to run away.

“So is showing up injured on a person's doorstep part of the pride of a Golden too?”

“That!.. No uh…”

Hrmmm, his pompous aura dulled for a second. Should I press further or move on?

“Did that family of yours leave you any money? We spent a fair sum saving you.”

“Well…”

He looked away. Ever since he got here all he’s done is mention that family, how great it is and how much I would regret angering them. The only family I would ever regret angering is my own. As if to emphasise my point, the ground shook a little. Those girls can be scary sometimes… but I’m still the strongest!

I blew air through my nose and put my hand on his shoulder.

“Say intruder, do you have any siblings?”

“Would you not call me that…”

“What?”

“My name is Trist. Not Intruder.”

He stood a little straighter and looked me in the eyes- for a second before slouching and looking away again. So it’s Trist?

“Nice to meet you, Trist.”

I crossed my arms.

“Answer the question.”

“A-ah, well I had quite a large family.”

“Like me?”

“Well… sort of. Apologies for the assumption but your siblings probably came from one mother and father, right?”

“We’re all one big family here.”

“What?”

His eyes widened. We grew up together and supported each other just like a family. So, does it matter? Besides…

“We may be- What the heck is that?”

A low rumbling noise had slowly been overshadowing my voice. Trist stumbled as the shaking ground became more violent. It’s behind me, isn’t it? I turned around. The cows were charging at us. Well that’s not something you see everyday. It was like a storm was emerging from their hooves.

Trist managed to find secure footing and turned to run. Before he could take another step, I grabbed him by the collar and pulled him closer. The sea of cows parted and ran around us.

“Those old ladies wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

I released Trist and dusted my palms on my jeans. After jumping off of Rene’s back and shooing her away, I crouched low.

“It’s what they’re running from that’s worth worrying about.”

I didn’t get much time to worry before the problem emerged from the woods. Or should I say problems. Creatures resembling giant worms swarmed the farm.

“Hey golden boy.”

“Huh?”

Trist, who had been staring at the approaching creatures in a trance, snapped out of it with my call. I picked up a rake and tossed it to him.

“If you can help me get rid of those, we’ll let you go without paying.”

“What? How could I do something like that?”

“Just use your fancy powers. I’ve fought you before, you’re strong enough to deal with this.”

He glanced at the rake.

“First of all. How dare you order me, a member of the Golden family aroun…”

I stared at him, then at the oncoming hoard.

“It’s either that or get trampled.”

I turned to leave. Where are the cows right now? A cloud of dust whipped around us. Damnit. I won’t be able to see anything at this rate.

“Zekey!”

Where did that sound come from?

“Zekey, over here!”

I locked eyes with Cam, who was waving at me a solid distance away. She was perched on a fence with a stupid grin on her face. Wait, she’s back? I bet she has a story and a half to tell. Though this is not the time or the place. I scratched my head. She found me so quickly… That’s it! If I stand on the fence I’ll get a better view of the stampede.

“Hey wait.”

Trist spoke up. I turned back to him.

“Regarding my Spark I…”

He gritted his teeth.

“I can’t use it anymore!”

He panted, grasping his chest. I fiddled with a hair that had been shoved in my face by the wind. I glanced at the worm creatures one more time, and with a sigh, slung Trist over my shoulder. I bent over to get a better view of the path I would need to take. Looks like I’m on my own for this one.

“Figures.”

***

Cold. Why is it so cold? A blizzard is trapped within my body. Get it out. Get it out! I tried to scratch my chest. What? Where are my hands? I inspected the rest of my body. The first thing that became apparent was that I was not wearing any clothes. The second thing was that I was glowing.

Is this my so-called spirit form? Perhaps I really did die back then. Wait, if this is my spirit form, why don’t I have hands? Come on Trist, think back to what happened. Right! I was about to exterminate those filthy duds! Then… then…

My arms cracked. The cracks dragged themselves through my body. At first I tried to hold myself together but I had no hands to do so. Soon, the cracks reached my head and my body fell apart.

I sat up. Where am I? I took in a long breath as warmth returned to my body. Hands! They’re tied behind my back. I tried to wriggle my fingers and they brushed against me. They’re there! I can’t see them but they’re there. I squinted my eyes. It’s too dark. I sent out my particles to create some light.

Nothing happened.

That’s not normal. I tried it again. Do as I command you spark! When the light didn’t work I tried my other skills. I couldn’t even send out random splutters. I scrunched my eyes shut and fell back into my pillow. Am I in the drylands? No, in the drylands I’d be able to do something.

“Hello patient. It appears that you were able to rise at the predicted time. Congratulations.”

I jumped.

My eyes snapped open and a dull lantern was pressed against my face. I couldn’t stop a small groan from escaping my lips.

“Respiratory system seems to be functioning normally.”

A small hand rubbed against my forehead.

“Temperature seems normal.”

She took a few steps back.

“Say Mr Shimmer, do you remember how you got here?”

What? Who? Wait… how did I get here? I think I was attacked. When I tried to remember the perpetrator, my heart ached. Tch. It’ll come back to me later. I sighed and turned my head to face the woman, no… girl who inspected me.

“Are you the one who treated my wounds?”

“You could say that.”

She hoisted herself onto a bed and crossed her legs.

“You’re quite young for a doctor.”

“Really?”

She tilted her head to the side.

“I’d say I’m about the right age.”

What is that supposed to mean? You know what, it doesn’t matter.

“Would you be a dear and untie me?”

“No can do.”

She inspected a piece of her equipment.

“Zeke said to leave you like that till I know you won’t do anything.”

Zeke? The image of a muscular boy with white hair flashed through my mind. Him? I was seconds away from writhing in rage, but something caused my anger to deflate like a cheap balloon. Instead, I sunk deeper into the bed.

“Mr Shimmer, unfortunately, you didn’t pass all of the health checks.”

I stopped slumping and turned back to her. A smaller girl popped out of nowhere and whispered in her ear.

“Who would that be?”

“An assistant, unimportant.”

The assistant backed away into the darkness again.

“Mr Shimmer, would you give me your name?”

“Trist Golden?”

“Well Trist, your soul is damaged.”