I was breathing heavily, stopped just a few feet away from the door of the cottage. I was confused at the sight of light emanating from it, and I walked towards it slowly.

At the door, I pushed it open a bit, not expecting to find Buri sitting next to a fireplace on a sofa in a far corner, his arms crossed, and his eyes closed in concentration.

I looked around the cottage which was now furnished with age-old furniture. It looked like everything had been as it was for centuries. Nobody could believe otherwise.

"Buri," I called out to him. He didn't seem to hear me.

I didn't even know what I was doing here when I was supposed to be running, yet here I was, curious to know how this completely abandoned cottage was now so full.

"Buri?" I called out to him again.

He responded by placing a frail-looking finger on his lips. He didn't open his eyes.

"They will win this battle. The enemy will retreat. But the cost is great," he said quietly.

I could feel my tears resurface, but I tried to compose myself.

"What are you doing?" I asked him.

"What I can to help your warriors," he said, still concentrating.

"How?" I asked him, walking towards him now.

He opened his eyes.

"I can't further their physical abilities, but at a time like this, I can enhance their mental capacity, in a way. I am a master of Illusion, Raynhildur, or have you not noticed?" he said.

I looked at him in confusion.

"I'll demonstrate. Why don't you go and stand in that corner over there?" he instructed, pointing to a corner next to an old bookshelf lined with even older books.

He stood as his finger was on his lips again, asking me to be quiet. He snapped his fingers and as if in a blink of an eye, everything vanished; the fireplace, the bookshelf, the rest of the furniture, everything.

The cottage was abandoned and empty again and I couldn't understand what wizardry allowed such a powerful illusion. Only Buri and I remained inside.

Just then I heard noises right outside the front door.

Two enemy wolves burst through the cottage doors, sniffing the air around them.

I could hear my heart pounding really fast, and I knew it would take a second for them to find me in this dark corner.

But as the seconds passed, and the wolves started to walk around the cottage, they didn't notice either me or Buri.

I was put into a state of confusion once again.

I pressed myself into the wall behind me as one of the wolves turned towards me, sniffing the air as it got closer.

I was terrified, to say the least, and in my better mind I could easily take a wolf or two down. But the fear, along with being on the edge of a mental breakdown, I knew there was no way I could fight anymore.

The wolf walked towards me, sniffing still, clearly its heightened senses were telling it something. But standing a foot away from me, it looked right at me, causing me to not move at all, even to breathe.

As it stood there, I watched its eyes that were directed towards me, but it wasn't looking at me. Rather, it was looking right through me and the feeling was eerie.

I didn't know what the wolf saw, nor could I tell if it sensed me in any way. But I was sure I had become completely invisible to this creature.

It turned around, growling as if in disappointment, and headed outside through the back door, followed by the second wolf. I could tell that the wolf had followed my scent to the cottage, and finding nothing would have confused it to no end.

Even after a few minutes had passed, I was afraid to move. Buri slowly walked towards me. I could tell his movements weren't slowed by fear but by age.

"Raynhildur," he said to me. "You cannot stay in Vestrid. And you cannot go to Austan either."

"I don't understand," I told him honestly. Everything that was happening was too much for my mind to handle.

"Child you'll not be safe here. And Austan would be an obvious choice for you to run to, now that they know that you are a grey wolf," he said. "But they don't know what your human looks like. So hide in the middle, don't go too far out East."

"What do you mean? How am I supposed to go anywhere?" I asked him, my tears already starting to fall, a panic attack was imminent.

He held both my hands tight and an instant sense of calm came over me.

"You're resourceful Raynhildur. You will manage," he told me, and even though I didn't know what I was going to do, I realized I was better off if I believed him.

"Those wolves," I said, looking cautiously at the back door. "How did they not see us? It took just a snap of your fingers to get rid of all the furniture in here, but how did they not see us?" I said.

Buri smiled a proud smile.

"The snapping of fingers is just theatrics child. True magic is in the mind," he said, pointing to his head. "They couldn't see us because I put a curtain over their eyes. They saw what I wanted them to see. Absolutely nothing," he said.

His magic was truly powerful. I've studied about wizardry, and the usual things ordinary wizards can manage to do. But this, this was by no means ordinary.

Buri wasn't an ordinary wizard.

"I can keep you hidden from all creatures but humans, but even my magic won't last long. So you need to leave this land soon my child," he said.

I nodded my head.

"We'll meet again," he said, retreating.

"Wait!" I said to him.

"What is it Raynhildur?" he asked.

"This cottage," I said. "I see it in my dreams."

His face lit up with realization.

"Ah. I see Gridastadur has taken a liking to you," he said, a smile playing on his lips.

What?

"Pay attention to her, when she comes in your dreams. For now, farewell dear child. Stay safe," he said, before leaving the cottage from its front door.

Stay safe.

The thought echoed in my mind as I went after him, without thinking. I didn't have anything to say to him, but so many unanswered questions remained.

I walked outside to see that he had completely vanished. It was near impossible to believe he was in this same cottage just a little while ago, surrounded by old furniture and old books.

I walked out and touched one of the trees, and I heard the humming again.

It was steady and low, and it was in sync with the way my heart was beating. I could feel the sound in my chest, right underneath my skin.

I fell to the ground, my forehead touching the trunk of the tree, as I began to cry. I could feel Imadis was weak now.

This was my moment of mourning. As my tears fell, thinking about Gramma, thinking about Valente, my home and everything I was about to leave behind, my sobs grew louder.

I didn't even think what risk I was taking by staying here and not running still. But at that point in time, all I could think about was all that I had lost in just a few hours.

Everything.

I had lost everything.