Bweakfast

The first rays of sunlight flooded the fields, and Klein, munching on another black centipede, sat upon the stone monument, felt himself fall.

'Ah!' Unprepared for the sensation, he quickly cast 'Blink'.

His feet then made contact with the solid earth. He looked around, and the crimson sea was no more, nor the wreckage, nor the monument. As if the entire night had been nothing but an absurd illusion.

Crunch.

The dark essence of the last centipede held between his jaws flew to his soul.

'Phew... Well, wasn't that a doozy' Klein thought as he bent down, feeling the dirt with his fingertips.

He brought the dirt closer to his eyes to inspect it, feeling nothing out of the ordinary.

It was dawn, and the fields stretched out on the horizon. The winds were no longer as calm as they once were, blowing grass and Klein's hair and tattered clothes.

After a moment, Klein simply shrugged and skipped back in the direction the car was in, whistling another tune.

His injuries had yet to fully heal, and though he had taken emergency precautions, he still felt uncomfortable making large movements.

----

"So hey, what do you guys wanna do?" Klein cheerfully asked as he successfully found the alien carriage and the exhaustion on the faces of the couple.

Amelia looked at the young man, and sighed, "Finding a city..." she started, continuing carefully, "One of ours if possible..."

This was the short-term plan she and Harold had discussed. If they could find any civilization and order in this situation, that would be the best option.

Klein rubbed his chin, hesitating to ask another question.

Perhaps seeing the struggle on the young man's face, Amelia offered, "If that's too difficult, and if you don't want to come with us -"

"I need to learn to read," Klein said, seemingly randomly.

Amelia nodded, having understood most of Klein's thoughts, then offered, "We can teach you if you can teach us magic."

After all, that was another thing she and Harold had discussed.

Klein's eyes lit up. Then, jumping on top of the roof of the car, he said, "Well, let's go, got no time to waste. Gotta find a place before nightfall, don't we?"

At that moment.

Rumble.

Despite his feast of black soul centipedes not too long earlier, Klein's stomach gave a weak protest.

He paused for a minute, then smiled, "I don't suppose we have any food left?" He asked, recalling that the couple had left most of their stuff at the burning inn.

Harold let out a groan, "No, truthfully, we're starving and thirsty..." He sighed. Throughout his life, he never had to worry about going hungry, and he never considered that one day, he might find himself in the middle of the apocalypse.

Amelia nodded in agreement.

"Ah, is that so? Well, no worries. Just drive, and I'll find something to cook..." Klein's grin widened as a twinkle flashed in his charming green eyes.

"I'm something of a gourmet, you see," he added with a laugh.

----

Casting 'Sight', Klein sat on top of the vehicle that was maintaining a steady pace on the dirt trail. He was looking around for any beasts or cattle he could find.

Klein thought that insects would do just as well, but unless one found a swarm like he had, finding a substantial meal in them was a troubling task.

'Ah, found one!' Without wasting any time, Klein cast a series of 'Blinks' and soon he vanished from the sight of the couple.

The car stopped, and Harold turned off the engine.

"Mmm... Mama, how long left?" Amanda stirred from her sleep.

The girl was only seven years old, but she understood that their current situation was not good. Last night's fright was enough to tell her that, but her parents couldn't hide the worry on their faces, no matter how they tried.

Her older brother too, tried comforting her, trying to distract her with games, but she knew that he was also feeling scared and worried.

 She didn't want to add to their anxieties, so she simply asked a question as if everything was normal, doing her best to comfort everyone in the car.

Amelia breathed in softly, then turned back to her precious daughter with a bright smile, "Soon sweetie. Our wizard friend said he's gonna make breakfast"

Amanda's eyes brightened up. Truthfully, she had really wanted to ask the funny wizard so many questions, and she also secretly hoped she could learn magic like those characters in the fairy tales her mom read to her at bedtimes.

But she also knew that her parents wanted to keep her and her brother away from the wizard, so she tried her best to remain understanding and mature.

But after all, she was still a child. Wizards and magic were the stuff of fantasy. She knew her brother felt the same way, but they both had to contain their excitement for various reasons.

"Mama, can we pway with the funny wizard?" Amanda asked with big innocent eyes.

'Cute. Cute. Cute.' Amelia thought as she clenched her chest. It was a critical hit, and she didn't know how to refuse her precious daughter.

Also, they had already made arrangements for them all to learn magic, and interaction with Klein was inevitable anyway.

"Yes, of course you can, but you remember all the things I told you before, right?" Amelia asked.

"Mhmm!" Amanda nodded enthusiastically with a smile, then shook her brother who was still sleeping, "Harry! Guess what, mama said we can pway with the wizard!" She jumped in excitement, unable to contain it any longer.

"Mm.. Really?" Harry stirred awake at the mention of wizards.

At that moment, Harold spoke up, "Looks like he's back."

They all looked in the approaching wizard's direction, wondering what food he would bring.

For some reason, Klein had found himself soaked in blood again. He was dragging what seemed to be the carcass of a large feathered beast. It was almost twice the young man's height, and yet he seemed to be dragging it through the dirt with ease.

He spotted them and waved with a bright smile, splashes of blood painting his face.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

Amelia wondered if it was really a good idea to have that young man near her kids. She could only sigh, regretting the fact that she didn't really have any other options.

They would have died much earlier if they hadn't encountered the man. And they would die soon if they didn't learn how to survive on their own.

Amelia was under no illusions that they were able to do so as they were, and neither was Harold.

Interrupting her thoughts, Amanda asked with an innocent lisp.

"Mama... is that bweakfast?"