The next day Sparrow and Don were turning over ground to plant beans. The sun was hot and high in the sky. The dirt flaked under Sparrow’s boot.

‘Too hot.’ Don said eventually, as sweat dripped down his face. He threw his hoe in the ground and walked over to the melon patch.

Sparrow joined him as Don plucked two melons from the vines and walked to a small creek.

They cracked the melons open on a rock and sat in the shade of a tree drinking the sweet juices that occasionally dribbled down their chins.

‘Life is good aye Don?’

Don nodded, ‘Damn good.’

He ripped a piece of the watermelon skin off and threw it into the stream.

‘You like it here Sparrow?’

‘Love it.’

Don smiled.

‘Well we love having you. I…’

Don paused, bit his lip as though he had chest pain that he wanted to relieve.

‘I wanted to say,’ Don said eventually, ‘At first we were a bit unsure about you Sparrow. We don’t get many people coming through these woods and those that do usually don’t have very good intentions.’

Don swallowed, ‘A very powerful, evil cultivator lived here a hundred years ago - there’s still a sort of dark magic in the air and…’

Don sighed, ‘And I know that flying thing was a joke, but I’ve just been extra cautious since my wife…’

Sparrow reached out and touched Don’s shoulder, ‘It’s okay.’

A tear slid down Don’s cheek, ‘Cultivation’s what killed her.’

Don plucked a pip from the watermelon and pushed it into the earth in front of him, ‘But life goes on and I had Maddie to look after and protect from the dark magic of this world.’

Don looked up - straight into Sparrow’s eyes and smiled, ‘You’re a good lad Sparrow. You’re good with the earth and every day you’re growing in your understanding of our god Kolja.’

Don reached out and patted Sparrow on the back, ‘I know you wanted to get back on the road at some point. But all I’m saying is that if you want it, there’ll always be a place for you here.’

From his pocket, Don pulled out a necklace with a lacquered acorn on the end of it. Don chuckled, ‘Just a little something Maddie and I made for you to say thanks for all your hard work.’

Sparrow was speechless - part of it was guilt, every night he practised the magic Don hated. But part of it was a feeling he hadn’t felt since he’d left his village with his grandma. It was a feeling of belonging.

Don took the acorn, placed it around Sparrow’s neck, and hugged him.

****

The hot morning turned into a warm, sunny afternoon. There wasn’t a breath of wind. Sparrow and Maddie lay in the grass in front of the apple trees, dozing in the sun.

A shadow passed in front of them - long and thin. Sparrow cracked an eye open, saw a man dressed in green and brown, with a grin on his face.

‘Lovely day for a sunbathe,’ the man said, ‘Mind if I join you?’

The man sat down on the grass with them. Maddie sat up, she eyed Sparrow, then gestured with her pinkie toward the woods.

On the very edge of it about twenty men armed with bows, swords, axes and spears stood, watching.

‘I wouldn’t worry about them,’ the man in green and brown said, ‘They’re with me.’

He pointed to himself and gave a faint grin, ‘Of course - you should probably be worried about me.’

The man gave a toothy grin that made Sparrow’s skin crawl.

Another shadow fell over them. Sparrow looked up to see Han’s face, anger wafted out from between his eyebrows.

‘Who are those men?’ He said, jabbing his finger at the guys slicing a pear tree in half with their axe. Another man was lighting one of the gardens on fire.

‘Those would be bandits.’ The man in green said, ‘They’re looking for a tribute.’

‘A tribute?’ Hans said, eyes nearly popping out of his head, ‘You mean money? For what?’

‘For not attacking you,’ The man said with a smile, ‘It’s pretty simple, if you give them 20 golden coins they won’t kill your son and daughter.’

‘Twenty gold coins!’ Don said, ‘That’s outrageous, we don’t have that kind of money.’

The man flashed a grin, ‘Come on, they're not complete savages. They’ll give you five days to collect it.’

‘And who are you?’ Don said.

‘I’m the leader of the bandits,’ the man got to his feet, but Don shook his head, he rushed at the guy, and tried to hit him.

The man ducked low and swept his boot out in an arc that smashed into Don’s knee. Don dropped straight onto his face and the bandit spat next to him.

‘See you in five days Don.’

Then the man gave a low whistle, then he and his men blended back into the woods.

****

Sparrow, Maddie and Don sat on a hill above the valley watching the sunset. Sparrow was half pleased and half terrified - he was pleased that the bandit had called him Don’s son. He was terrified - not because of the bandits, but because he might have to use his powers against them. He was worried about how Don would react.

Sparrow and Maddie looked at each other again. It had been a long time since Don had spoken.

'Are we going to run?' Maddie asked her father. 'Are we going to pay?' Sparrow said.

'No,' Don said, a tear was falling from his eye. ‘There's nowhere for us to go. Especially with those bandits around and we don't have enough to pay. So we are going to fight.'

A smile spread across Sparrow's face, 'Yes! Do you have some sort of magic weapons hidden away, Don?'

Don shook his head. 'No. Not magic. Never magic. We're going to build weapons, we'll make bows. I used to build them when I was a boy for hunting. If you get them accurate enough, you can take out a man.'

'But Dad,' Maddie said, ‘There's 20 of them. Can we really take out 20 men ourselves.'

Don shrugged. ‘We have to try. Besides…’ he gazed up to the sky, ‘We have the almighty Kolja on our side!’

So they built bows and arrows and practised firing them at the target. But the more they did it the more Sparrow's heart sank. For the most part, the arrows just bounced off the trees they fired them at, they would be almost unless they hit someone in the eye or neck.

The night before the bandits were due to show up Sparrow and Maddie woke up at midnight and met at the cave. 'Those bows are useless,' Sparrow said, 'If anything, they're just going to make the men want to hurt us more.'

Maddie nodded, then reached out and took Sparrow's hand. Her fingers were warm. She gently held his palm open. Felt his skin.

‘What would your dad do? If I were to use my power?' Sparrow said.

'He would kick you out.' Maddie said.

'Even if I was saving our lives?'

Maddie nodded. Her mouth was fixed in a thin, grim, line. 'I love him. I really do. But I think his belief in Kolja is too overpowering. Sometimes you need to believe in yourself. You know?’ There was a silence - Sparrow stared towards the patterns he’d been learning for months.

'We could be dead tomorrow,' Maddie said.

'Or we could be forced to never see each other again.' Sparrow replied.

Maddie was staring into his eyes. Hers were bright and the moonlight shimmered off unwept tears, 'When you're dead nothing matters anymore,' Maddie said, 'You don't have to worry about what someone else is thinking. You don't have to worry about the feelings that are taking over your head over your heart and your mind.' She leaned forward. 'Anything could happen tomorrow.'

'Anything,' Sparrow repeated.

Maddie gave a small sad smile. 'Then I'm going to make the most of this while I can.'

She leaned forward and kissed Sparrow on the lips. Their noses collided, and they laughed, Then re-adjusted and kissed again.

Hot feelings flowed through Sparrow - a sort of electricity or moonlight energy. His hands felt her shoulders and he could feel her smiling beneath the kiss. They broke apart and wrapped their arms around each other's shoulders and stared out at the moonlight.