"Ugh, today was exhausting."

Petra just rolls her eyes at the redstone engineer. "Not used to hard work Olivia?"

"Hey! I work hard! It's usually only with my mind though and not my body."

I smile at my friends, feeling so whole and complete to have them back. After we separated around noon, we all worked really hard to make sure Beacontown and ourselves are prepared for any threat.

In fact, all of us are wearing our armor. You would think it would be uncomfortable, but we're all pretty used to it. I just put on the darkest armor set I had; I'm in a stealthy kinda mood.

The sun went down and we all went down to the library to relax. After I put my desk in my room, this room has gone untouched. No reason to go down into the basement unless I'm using my secret exit.

So it's a wee bit dusty, but no one really cares. We're just sitting in every comfortable couches surrounding a warm cozy fire while we chat.

"At least you didn't have to work with Petra for hours. I never even seen some of the moves she does!"

I peer suspiciously at Petra. "I thought you agreed to practice defense, not offense."

"It took about an hour to break the habit."

Ivor just huffs at the griever. "Oh please, you live in Boomtown with Magnus and you have special armor. You should be used to a beating."

"Uh yeah, I can take explosions and falls. But not so much sharp jabs." Axel crosses his arms, stubbornly scowling.

His armor is pretty basic; the thick leather jacket is green and the strips tying the pieces across his chest are black. He says the black represents the Witherstorm, but I think he only has that color because it looks cool.

"Aww Axel, are you complimenting me?" Petra swoons with her words, mockingly falling into him.

Axel pushes her off. "Can I sit somewhere else?"

Olivia immediately takes up all the space on her couch, although she has the single seat one. Axel glances hopefully at Ivor's couch, seeing room for him. But Ivor glares at him, his bread even quivering at him

"I just restocked my potions big guy. Don't you dare make a move."

Lukas and I chuckle together on our couch. He leans slightly closer to me and whispers, "It always impresses me how we're friends but can tease each other endlessly."

I chuckle louder, and it catches Olivia's attention. "Axel, I'm sure Lukas and Jesse have room on their couch."

Lukas's eyes widen, and I raise an eyebrow at Olivia. If the others want to drag me into their teasing, well they're gonna get just that.

"I don't know Olivia, it seems to me that Axel would be much more comfortable if you switched spots with him."

Axel clears his throat. "If I get to choose, I would much rather have Petra sit somewhere else and I get the whole couch to myself."

Petra punches him in the shoulder. "Nope, I sat here first. You got here last, don't be late next time."

"But I was SORE! You can't expect me to move fast after what you did."

Lukas now finally speaks up. "Then don't except to get the seat you want Axel."

"That's not fair, what did you even have to do today?"

Lukas looks at me, at first panicked, but then a confident smirk slides across his face. A horrible realization claws in my stomach as I figure out where he's going with this. Lukas and I spent all day in his room practicing my fire, while he sometimes worked on his archery.

"Ask Jesse." I suppress the urge to groan and bury myself into the couch. 

Instead, I glare at Lukas. "Sometimes I really hate you."

"Sure, THAT'S what you're feeling right now." I really do dislike him at the moment, but it's getting covered up by my nerves. I can already feel a blush crawling up onto my face.

"Well Jesse," Petra smiling at my discomfort. "We're waiting."

"WAIT!" My face gets even hotter, I do not want Ivor speaking right now. "You didn't do anything inappropriate did you?"

"NO!" I smack my forehead, no one here is making this any easier. "That's just... I have no words for you Ivor."

Lukas snickers behind his hand, probably having the time of his life. I fling one of those decorative pillows at him before I turn to the others.

"Oh I get it." I sigh exasperated and roll my head at Olivia, very confident she didn't figure it out. "Lukas did something to embarrass you and you don't want to tell us."

Petra rubs her hands together and leans forward, grinning evilly. "Let's here it then, Lukas, make sure he doesn't leave anything out."

"Okay... uh... Well, you're not exactly right Olivia. I haven't, and neither has Lukas, done anything embarrassing. It's-"

"Aww man!" Axel groans and falls into the couch. "I wanted to hear something really embarrassing."

Lukas glares at him. "Axel, don't interrupt Jesse. Just let him finish."

Finally Lukas sounds supporting, and I take a deep breath. "I'm sure you all noticed that I acted, uh, very peculiar earlier when Petra was talking about that thing."

Everyone nods, but Olivia speaks up. "It's okay Jesse, after everything you've gone through and had to protect Beacontown from, it's understandable why you reacted so aggressively towards a new threat."

"Yeah dude, and I promise not play with that acid stuff anymore."

A small smile starts to expand on my still flushed face. Lukas is right; I do have great supportive friends underneath all of the teasing we do.

"There was another reason for that. Not that I wasn't concerned about Petra or Beacontown."

Another deep breath, and perhaps a few more. A friendly hand pats my shoulder, and I see Lukas smiling at me. His big ocean eyes swirling with faith in me.

"Something happened to me, I'm not sure how long I've had it, but a couple of days ago it just appeared."

"Just appeared?" The old man grumbles and rolls his eyes. "Something just magically fell out of the sky? What were you doing when this thing 'just appeared'."

"I was..." I rub my neck and look away. "I was nearly getting killed by some monsters."

"WHAT?" Petra jumps onto her feet and points at me. "There's no way some average group of monsters can take you out Jesse. Tell us what really happened."

I resist the urge to stand up too, and instead take another deep breath. "I didn't lie, but I also wasn't in the same condition as I am right now."

Petra just crosses her arms, not buying it. "Come on, what could possibly put you under? You've fought through practically everything."

My body tenses up all over. I could have been deathly sick when this happened and they wouldn't know. That's the problem when we only see each other once a mouth! We don't actually know how the others are.

My hand coils in frustration, tight fists sending tremors through my arms. I lower my head and squeeze eyes shut. Suddenly, it has become very hard to see the reason why I have to tell them anything.

"Petra, sit down." That's Lukas's voice. Now I guess I can't even fight my own battles, just great.

"Wait, is there something actually wrong with Jesse?" Shock, disbelief, and concern fill her words. I pull my knees to chest and bury my head into it. I attempt to calm myself by taking more deep breaths.

Did she really not care enough to notice that there is something different? Does Petra, despite being one of my closest friends, really not know me well enough that she just assumes like everyone else that I'm not a person? That I'm above things like sleeping and having off days.

And this is exactly what I am worried about! That they'll see my fire as something wrong, something bad. A parasite that is infecting me and needs to be cut off before the rest of me rots. 

"Just let him speak!" Lukas's voice, usually so kind and gentle, comes out harsh and irritated. When he rubs my back, though, it's nothing except genuine care and support.

Then there's that energy that always flow from his touch. I'm not sure what it is, but unlike my fire, I haven't found its limit. The chaotic emotions inside me settle down and a serenity rises.

I let my legs fall back down and release the tension I've been storing in my body. I don't necessarily want to look at my friends, so I turn to Lukas. His eyes are swimming with regret, but even then he gives me a small smile.

"Thank you..." My voice soft, and Ivor probably wasn't able to hear it. But Lukas ocean eyes shimmer again, and his smile grows.

"You don't need to thank me." He pats my shoulder. "You got this Jesse."

Another deep breath. "I nearly died that day." Thankfully I didn't need to talk every loud. The only other sound is the crackling of the fire.

I turn back to my friend's pale faces. "And if I did, it would've been entirely my fault. Not because someone had a grudge, not because of terrible luck, but because I wasn't prepared."

I advert my eyes; I can't stand to look them properly. "Long story short, until recently, I haven't been sleeping well. Or just choosing not to sleep at all. I merely shuffled through the days and burned myself out trying to stay happy for Beacontown."

"Oh Jesse..." Olivia sounds heartbroken, although I can't help but hear her words laced with pity. I don't want pity; I don't want them to think they have to watch over me.

"So I went out to get the clay for the wall. Not thinking properly, I went out at night, sleep deprived, and exhausted before I even started.

"As you saw coming in, I did get the clay. But as I teleported back into the open again," I stopped, seeing their puzzled faces as they tried to see the whole picture. Ivor has his mouth open, a pointed finger up.

"Don't bother asking. Anyway, a hoard formed and I just couldn't take them. They started to beat me and rip me to shreds." I flicker my eyes to Petra. "The armor I wore is in the workshop. Take a look at it and double the damage, then you'll have an idea what I looked like."

"And then... But after that... What happened..." I gulp, and pause for a few moments to just breath.

"Right when I was giving it up it hap-"

My breath hitches, and suddenly my heart hammers in my chest. I cough, and grip my chest, as if that could do anything to calm the organ from pounding in fear. Tremors start to break our across my arms, and the heat in my face drains.

I crumple up as my mind falls out of my body. Dizzy and confused, I look up and see the field in front of Beacontown from the top of the gate. I blink and try to focus. There's nothing at first, just a calm peaceful night.

But it's still, unnaturally so. I scan the area for anything; zombies, cows, spiders, any movement whatsoever. The grass shuffles, or is it wind rustling leaves? But then it moves again, and in a couple of other places in the field.

Tails, the grass has tails. One of them yawns, the moonlight illuminating its long, sharp, white fangs. They all start to walk again, slowly approaching Beacontown. My Beacontown, my home.

Something shakes me and jolts me to my own head again. My friends are around me and I push them back when I jump to my feet. I try to get through them, but Axel grabs my shoulders.

Olivia reaches out with her hand. "Jesse, whoa, calm down. Whatever it is, I'm sure you can tell us. We've been-"

"THEY'RE HERE!" Every second sitting here those acid-spitters get closer to Beacontown. We have to move, we have to kick them out.

"What is?"

I shove past them, sprinting towards the door. "THOSE DEMONS!"

The doors slam into the wall, and I pull out my sword while jumping up the steps. The blade glimmers, ready to cut through the heart of the beasts that threaten Beacontown. My armor and sword are made out of diamonds, that acid is going to have a tough time hurting me again.

Footsteps echo behind me, my friends must have finally gotten their senses back. Although their reactions could be better, there's no one I'd rather have than them to fight by my side.

"Jesse," I almost trip on the carpet, I didn't except Lukas to have already catch up with me. "Are you really going to... charge forward without a plan?"

The Order Hall opens, way too long in my opinion. "I have a plan."

"Oh really?" I charge through once the opening gets big enough. "And what may that be?"

"Incinerate every green menace that tries to step inside Beacontown."

Lukas grabs my arm, halting me when all I want to do is move forward. "That's a goal, a good goal, but not a plan."

Petra and Axel stop next to us, her sword out and Axel wields a giant axe. I look down, quickly conjuring up a strategize. It's not my finest work, but since I'm pressed on time and we have to work fast, it's the best I can do.

"Axel, Petra, you're with me. We'll be directly fighting the creatures head on. Brace yourselves." They nod, both of them loosening a few joints.

I turn to Lukas, Olivia and Ivor just managing to catch up. "You guys start picking them from a distance. Do whatever you can to hinder them and help us. It's also your job to keep any citizen away and safe. Got it?"

They nod. Lukas and Olivia pull out their bows, while Ivor takes out a dark gray looking splash potion. I give a small smile of thanks to my steadfast companions before I continue my sprint. Moonlight the only guide for us through Beacontown's streets.

The shut gate comes into view, and at first I'm relieved. Only a false alarm, Beacontown's still safe. But not a moment after, a dark outline appears on the top. Then another, and then two more. They all jump down, landing very softly and creeping towards us steadily.

Tap tap tap...

In spite of myself, I take a slight step backwards. Their claws must be huge if they tap that loudly against the cobble. Although I can barely see them, a shadow protecting the demons. Fitting.

Hisss....

Three long white claws come out, the sharp edges glimmering. Another long-clawed paw is raised into the moonlight, dark swampy scales that almost perfectly blend into the shadows. The lighting is almost intentionally trying to make these things more scarier, a larger threat.

Hissssssssss....

Slowly the face comes into view. This demon must be part dragon or something! Its head has horns jutting out above the ears. Although I guess a dragon doesn't have fins on the side of its face.

But just like a dragon, it has a long snout with a raised nose, in the middle of vile yellow eyes. Eyes that ooze out a sickly yellow glow, as if this thing can't even produce light without corrupting it.

HISSSSS!

Suddenly, they all jump into view. The once still animals now thrashing in place as wild beasts, as if trying to keep in a frantic energy. One quick look show a lean thin body, strong legs to push out bursts of power. By far the most scariest thing however isn't how they are acting like rapid animals about to attack.

It's how, despite what the rest of the body does, not one of their predator eyes leave me. I really get the terrible sense that isn't natural. Their eyes give me the dreadful impression that I'm their prey.

I grip my sword tighter and take a deep breath, starring just as hard into the closest one's eyes. For a moment, we just stare at each other as primal rage starts to build up. The demon narrows its eyes and screeches, but I don't break contact.

Then, in perfect unison, they all charge forward.