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Nya stuck her tongue out in concentration, running the pencil over the paper. She turned it this way and that, drawing from different angles. Holding it back from her, she observed it for a while before smiling. It was a rough sketch made with all the prowess a child her age could manage. But she thought it to be perfect nonetheless.

"Hey, Kai!" she called out, eyes never leaving the page. "Do we have glue?"

There was the sound of a thoughtful hum from the kitchen before her brother answered back. "Nope, I don't think so. Why?"

"I need it for my craft."

"Ooh," Kai smiled, walking into their little bedroom. "What is it?"

Nya held up the drawing proudly. "It's a tiny swing. I'm gonna make it from sticks and string."

Kai leaned forward to look at the illustration. "That's cute, sis. I'm gonna head to the market anyway. I'll see if I can get that glue for you."

Nya immediately scrambled off her usual stool by the window and reached for her cloak. "I'll come along too."

"Then get your basket, and let's go."

. . .

The hardware shop was inconveniently located on the other side of the village. But the siblings didn't mind. A walk through the ever-busy streets of Ignacia, full of people and trade, reminded them that they weren't really alone in the world.

They had made quick stops to buy stuff for lunch, treating themselves with ice cream as well, and now they were on their way to purchase the glue Nya had requested. The roads here weren't teeming with villagers as they did initially, which meant the two could easily look at all the shops and stalls and still make good time.

However, the sparsity of people also meant that they were exposed; something Nya picked up on as soon as they turned onto an almost deserted street.

While Kai was busy listing off the new tools he needed, she could sense eyes trailing them. Eyes that didn't belong to the few villagers that were wandering about.

Nya shivered. "It's quiet out here, isn't it?"

"The lesser the crowd, the better for us," Kai declared. "It's almost sundown, so we need to speed things up anyway."

Nya didn't agree. She found herself becoming aware of every shadow under shop canopies, every space between adjacent carts, and every footstep that meandered too close to them.

We're being followed, I know it, she thought.

Ever since what happened to her parents, Nya always had a fear of disappearing. Nightmares plagued her where she and Kai would be chased by nameless beings, ready to drag them into the unknown. And now, feeling as though someone was stalking them brought back all those fears.

She shuffled closer to her brother who still wasn't aware of the growing unease his sister harboured.

Something caught her eye. Nya stifled a gasp as something pale and white flashed in the crack between two vegetable carts. It was only for a moment but it was enough to cause her heart to race. She glanced back at Kai but he was marching on obliviously.

Taking in a deep breath, Nya stopped. She wanted to make sure it was just her imagination.

It's nothing. You're seeing things. It's nothing at all.

She inched closer to the carts, those words on a loop in her mind. Daringly, she squeezed herself through the space and checked behind the cart on the left. Nothing. She turned to the one on the right. The earlier words stopped dead in her thoughts, replaced by an alarm.

Down the row of carts, the same pale white figure ducked just out of sight. Nya cried out, scrambling away. She nearly tripped over her feet but maintained her balance. Without wasting a second, she hurried to catch up with her brother. Like before, Kai didn't notice anything. He was too busy searching for the hardware shop.

Nya was out of breath, her legs trembling and gait wavering. But her mind was whizzing. She had been right, someone was following them. There were times when Nya was thankful for her sixth sense. But right now, she knew she was going to be on full alert the entire day.

Nya looked back a few times to make sure that person wasn't still tailing them. When it seemed like the coast was clear, she sighed in relief. They had fled after she spotted them. Nya wasn't even certain if they could even be called a 'person'.

Whatever it was, it had been completely white. Bony white. She had also seen something else though. Something one would refer to as . . . red eyes.

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It would not stick.

No matter how many times she layered it with glue, the ends would just detach from each other. Nya's hands shook as she stuck the horizontal support of the swing with the vertical sticks on either side for what was the sixth time.

Once attached, she slowly retracted her fingers, taking care not to even breathe on it. A few seconds passed and the swing's frame did not fall in on itself. It was nothing short of a miracle for the girl.

Nya took the liberty of smiling and reached for the strings to which the seat of the swing would be fixed. Her growing distrust for luck compelled her to keep one eye on the glued structure as she worked. Finally the time came to bring it all together.

But good things don't last long. The frame fell apart again before she could even tie the seat onto it. Nya stared at it silently, her hands paused midway with the seat hanging from her fingers.

Anger flashed red in her eyes. She tried to hold it in but couldn't. With a shrill cry, she threw it onto the floor. She grabbed the dismantled frame and crushed it between her palms, the sticks snapping loudly. She discarded that to the ground as well.

Tears stung her eyes, pooling at the corners. All she had wanted was to make something. She was tired of everything that was broken in her life. For once, she wanted things to go her way, to yield to her bidding.

Nya moved away from the table she'd been working on and paced around the house, trying to calm down. Kai was out running an errand so she couldn't turn to his optimistic embrace.

Stop being a baby! You shouldn't need him for everything, she scolded herself.

But then through her own voice, she heard something else. A foggy memory but one of the few she had.

When I'm upset, I do what I love most. Something that gives me control, her father's voice spoke from years ago.

"What you love most," Nya echoed aloud. She directed her gaze to the door that led to the forge.

Her feet moved. She walked closer and closer to the door. Blacksmithing was what her father had always loved to do. It was never a chore to him. To Kai, it may be their only source of income but to her father, it was a way to escape.

It was solid. No flimsy sticks and strings. It didn't need glue to hold it. It's foundations were pure metal. That's what Nya needed. Something strong that she could make. Unbreakable, like her brother always was. Like she always wanted to be.

The forge was messy when she entered. Kai's tools were all over the place. It was warm in here. The first thing Nya did was open up the shutter to let some cool air in. The fiery glow of the sunset illuminated the work space, bouncing off the tools and the metal.

From the little knowledge she had by watching her parents and brother, she began working out the details.

A little molding. That's all she'd do. Kai wasn't here to stop her. If she succeeded, maybe he would truly let her help him.

She lit the fire and filled up a barrel with water. Kai's working gloves were big but she pulled them on anyway. Grabbing a rough iron rod from the supplies and a hammer, she climbed on top of the box.

With a quick prayer dancing on her lips, she placed the rod over the hot grillwork. The fire below licked the upper end of the rod, the rusty black turning into a burning, glowing red.

Nya adjusted her grip on the hammer, raised it above her head and brought it down.

TING!

Nya didn't realize she'd squeezed her eyes shut. But when she opened them . . . she let out a laugh. The hot part of the iron had dented from the hammer strike. Excitement bubbling, Nya really set to work.

Clank! Ting! Clang! Thunk!

Nya's thin arms couldn't invoke praiseworthy strength but she gradually got the gist of it. Soon, the cylindrical rod was hammered to a roughly flat surface and the girl couldn't be more proud of herself.

She scrambled off the box and dunked the hot iron into the barrel of water. Steam rose up in thick clouds making her cough. Fanning it away, she pulled the iron out-

-and it was all twisted.

Nya stared at it in horror as it looked more like it belonged in a garbage can rather than a weapon. Glaring at the jagged mess, the previous frustration bubbled up again and she hurled the iron away.

It loudly struck the oven's grillwork and Nya gasped. A flaming coal got dislodged and sailed over her head, making her duck. Crackling with heat, it travelled on its trajectory and went straight for the pile of wooden crates.

It only took a few minutes for the entire pile to gradually catch fire. Nya, shocked at what she had done, watched the growing flames with wide eyes. She couldn't move, couldn't think. Despite the heat, she was frozen on the spot.

The fire roared as it transitioned from the crates to the derelict walls of the forge, the wood cracking underneath. The sound broke Nya out of her trance and she cried aloud in panic. The searing heat was biting at her face and arms and she stumbled back from the blaze. She hit something, making it topple over. It was the barrel.

"No, no, no," Nya whispered, stepping away. That was the only source of water she had. The only thing she could fight the fire with and now it was gone.

Crack!

Nya screamed, dodging to the side as pieces of the roof crumbled and dropped. The little forge was almost completely caught in the blaze. Nya felt her head spinning due to the decreasing oxygen in the air and she finally gathered up the energy to make a run for it.

The fire followed, squeezing through the door and the walls. Every flammable thing in the vicinity gave it fuel; the old curtains, chairs and tables.

Nya thundered out of the house, hearing it crack and groan under the force of the fire. The fire she had caused. It was now engulfing the rest of the building. It spread too fast, feasting on the old dry wood.

. . .

Time seemed to slow down for Nya. Her home burned right before her eyes, smoke and cinders billowing around her as delicately as mist and snow. The porch shed tore away and crashed to the ground, the wind chime ringing its last song as it went down.

"NYA!"

She turned her tear-stained face to the source of the voice. Kai stood there, the pouch of newly earned money slipping from his fingers.

He broke into a run.

Nya tried hard to hold back her sobs, waiting for her brother to come hold her and take her away from another one of her failures. But the safety of his arms never came. The boy got closer . . . and ran past her.

Toward his burning home.

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