Lexy woke up with a yawn and slipped out of her bed. She walked over to her dresser and got into her usual attire that consisted of her blue hoodie, white t-shirt, black shorts,  and red goggles. Lexy then grabbed her bow, arrows, quiver and her father’s knife.

Lexy then walked out of her room and headed down stairs. Lexy made her way to the dining room to see Leslie, Carin, Mina and Misa. Leslie looked to her,

“Hi Lexy, I'd like to inform you that you do need breakfast. I have been informed by the staff that you haven't been eating that much.”

Lexy sighed and nodded,

“Alright, I'll grab an orange and go practice archery.”

Leslie nodded and with that Lexy walked over to one of the baskets of apples and oranges on the table and grabbed an orange. Lexy then walked over to a trash can and used her nails to softly cut into the skin of the fruit and peeled it. Lexy then threw the peel away and walked out of the dining room. Lexy made her way to the garden and saw Callum in the forest.

Callum looked up from what he was doing and waved to her. Lexy walked up to him and smiled,

“So you need more flowers?”

Callum noded,

“Yeah the flowers have been helping mom, she actually talked today.”

Lexy nodded and looked to Callum with slight fear,

“That's good, hey, question once your mom is healed does that mean you're not going to come here anymore?”

Calum’s eyes widened,

“What? No, of course I'll come back. We're friends! Friends don't abandon friends. Think of it this way, I can hop through shadows so long as you have a shadow. I can always come to help you. I'm like...I'm like a friendly boogie man!”

Lexy smiled,

“That’s good, I was worried there for a bit. Now let’s get some dandelions for your mom.”

Calum nodded,

“Right!”

Calum and Lexy then began to gather dandelions. The two had managed to gather another bundle of twenty. Lexy looked to Callum,

“So I was wondering, you're dad, I haven't met him. What is he like?”

Calum looked to her and smiled,

“My dad is nice, sometimes he's strict but as of right now. He left town to represent Charter and so he can get a flower for mom from the capital.”

Lexy hummed her eyes narrowed a bit,

“So your dad is still around and your mom is. Is your mom nice?”

Callum nodded,

“Oh she's the best! Before she got sick she would help the servants take care of the paryton and the manor. She would even read stories to me and my sister. Then after reading she would hug us and tickle us. She’s the best. What are your parents like? I dont think ive seen either of your parents around here. Just maids and butlers occasionally.”

Lexy looked away and shifted her weight from one leg to another while she scratched her arm,

“Well, I've never met my dad and my mom… I don't know what to think. Do parents normally abandon children at the airport? On top of that is it normal to just abandon a child in a house for months and months.. It gets lonely.”

Lexy’s voice went into a soft whisper at the end.

Callum’s eyes widened,

“Hey, don't cry. Crying doesn't help anyone, actions do. I'll tell you this again and don't forget it.”

Callum pointed to Lexy’s shadow and Lexy looked at it.

“See that?”

Lexy nodded and Callum smiled,

“as long as you have that. You are never ever lonely.”

Lexy looked to him with wide eyes and smiled,

“Promise?”

Callum nodded,

“I promise.”

Lexy smiled,

“Great, now let's go.”

Callum smiled and put his hand on her shoulder. Lexy watched as they sunk into the shadows and rose back up right by Callum’s house.

Lexy and Callum walked into the house to find Niph cleaning up. Niph was about to greet the two when the sound of coughing was heard from the kitchen. Niph sighed and went into the kitchen while Lexy and Callum glanced at each other and went inside to see Niph helping a woman who had eyes and hair that matched Callum’s.

The woman looked to Callum and then looked to Lexy her eyes widened and the woman leaned down to look at her,

“. Callum, is this the friend I've heard you talk about?”

Callum nodded and smiled,

“Yeah! we're best of friends!”

Callum’s mother smiled and she looked to the dandelions,

“how about me and Niph make the medicine and you go play with your new friend.”

Callum smiled,

“thanks mom! You're the best.”

Lexy stared at Callum’s mother for a long moment and blinked,

“You're not like my mom, I like that.”

Callum huffed,

“Lexy come on! We don't get all day!”

Lexy looked to Callum and smiled,

“Ok i'm coming!”

Lexy then followed Callum after handing the dandelions to Callum‘s mother. Callum looked to her and smiled,

“Oh I want to show you the great rock cave!”

Lexy smiled back softly and followed Callum as he guided her through the streets taking a left a right and then another left until they had begun to approach a massive boulder like mountain that was slanted skywards. Callum smiled and pointed to the mountain, “we have to  walk the way because I'm saving energy for getting you back home.”

Lexy nodded and the two eventually reached the bottom of the mountain. Lexy continued to follow Callum as he led her off the trail on the mountain and after going past tall dead twisted trees. Lexy looked to Callum,

“What happened here?”

Callum looked to Lexy,

“It's the remnants of a forest. They say that we are lucky we get to even see this. It’s nothing compared to the real thing though.”

Lexy nodded and continued to follow Callum, as she did she saw Charter was right next to a huge river. It was also then that Lexy saw the huge sand dunes that were on the horizon. 

Lexy resumed to follow Callum until he stopped in front of a cave entrance. Callum reached into his shadow and pulled out a lantern with a candle inside and some matches. Taking a match out he lit it by striking it against the box and lit the candle. Callum resumed his course into the cave that eventually opened to a large cavern that had a desk and a huge amount of bookshelves filled with books.

Callum turned to her,

“Since you've helped my mom so much and my mom is invaluable to me. I only know one way to repay you. These books are free for you to read any time. Many were made by my older brother. It’s only fair.”

Lexy smiled,

“Hey, I hate to ruin the moment but isn't it right about now when one of those storms will come in?”

Callum’s eyes widened,

“Oh my gosh you're right! Suppose it took us a while to get here.”

Callum rushed out of the cave to look outside, only to see the storm coming at the border of the town. Callum quickly ran over to Lexy and put his hand on her shoulder. Lexy watched as they slipped through the shadows and rose back up where the garden met the woods.

Lexy heard the back door of the mansion open and looked to Callum only to see he was gone already. Lexy looked back to see who had come through the back door to see Thokath. Thokath let out a sigh in relief and ran up to Lexy.

Lexy felt him rap his arms around her and hug her,

“Thank goodness you're safe!”

Thokath set her down and his expression went to stern scowl,

“Don't ever scare me like that! I panicked when Leslie told me she went to check on you before she was going to leave for work. She told me you said you were going to go do some archery only for her to find you were gone! Where were you?”

Lexy lowered her head and she scratched at her neck. Thokath looked at her neck and stopped at what he was going to say. There at the base of Lexy’s neck was a chain scar just like the ones on her wrists. Thokath’s eyes widened,

“How many of those do you have?”

Lexy blinked,

“Oh the scars? I have them across my chest, on my wrists and on my ankles.”

Thokath frowned and his brows furrowed,

“oh. Uh back onto the subject earlier. Could you please tell me or one of the maids or butlers where you go?”

Lexy nodded and scratched at her neck again. Thokath eyed this,

“Are the scars itchy?”

Lexy looked away,

“Sometimes, other times they burn. It's not that bad, I'll be fine.”

Thokath sighed, his frown not quite leaving,

“alright, do you want dinner?”

Lexy shook her head,

“No, I think I'm going to go to bed.”

Thokath nodded and Lexy went inside to go to bed.