Before dawn.

  The rain pittered and pattered against the roof of the house as I drifted back into consciousness. James was still peacefully asleep. No boxy, not yet.

  There were more groans outside, and splashing footsteps in the wet ground. splat, Splat, SPLAT. Louder and louder, closer and closer.

  Thud!

  A sound at the boards replacing the door, three more; Silence, then more moans and groans.

  James jumped from his slumber and grabbed the plastic trowel he had resting of the coffee table; I also readied myself for a battle with the undead.

  Silence, then more banging, and the boards gave.

  I summoned my arrows as a pale green hand went through the thin boards where the door was. James lept forward into battle as a boxy informed us that combat had officially begun.

  Six undead total, one different from the rest. The mage wore shabby blue robes that looked to be tattered from centuries of use. Its eyes had the blue glow of a system box that contrasted against the pupilless eyes of the other undead. A green glow enveloped its staff which had a crimson ruby adorning its top. Spells, great

  Three surrounded James while two rushed at me. I readied my arrows. Two arrows hit one in each of its eyes, while the other kept charging, unfazed by the death of its comrade. My second round missed and it reached me. The foul intruder smacked my plastic pot with its drenched hand and I went flying off the dining table.

  Another batch of needle covered arrows. This time hitting the intruder in the groin. Blue blood, curious.

  Pain. Plants aren't meant to feel this. I knew that at heart. Pain is unbearable. Without James at least.

  It stung everywhere. In the deepest parts of my roots, steepest of my surface, my water storage, EVERYWHERE.

  The pain faded into the background. The battle was not quite over. Luckily, the second undead did not collapse on me. It instead fell backwards clumsily as it lost whatever blue substance stood in for blood. It lost all light in its being. Light, green light. The mage charged a green aura around the crimson gem on its staff as a screech resounded through the house.

  A spell, an ugly one at that, aimed straight at James. The mage's allies flinched, giving him an opening for a free strike. Another down. James had minor cuts and bruises, some bleeding, some scabbed over, the ones from yesterday. He didn't look so good and I was nearly out of mana. My own injuries temporarily decreased my mana cap to 25. I lost a whole volley of arrows because of that. I had one left and then I was done. I readied my last hope as James continued fighting. They were off just before the screech reached a climax. One arrow hitting the gemstone on the staff and the other puncturing the mage's skull.

  Mana Deficiency. Everything went black.

  —–‐

  I awoke later in the day, the afternoon to be exact, and the undead were all gone. James was moving about the house doing menial tasks. He swept what remained of the intruders (something similar to ashes) into a dustpan.

  He seemed to have learned the use of the heartstones. He took one into his right hand and it dissolved from bottom to top, as if a portal to the void opened beneath it, and James was ever so slightly more powerful.

  He had also set me on the table I was on before I had a great fall, like a certain fat egg. I checked my status boxy to check on my HP:

  I felt better, as my HP bar said I was almost fully healed. Possibly the work of James. Always way too kind to me.

  James began planting seeds in the empty pots. Cucumber, Squash, Poppies, Strawberries, and several other miscellaneous plants. They probably weren't all in season, but a convenient boxy fixed that problem.

  "That's an obvious hell to the yeah!", James was excited to say the least.

  "Sure"

  A light grayish green aura enveloped the entire home as I felt a warm rush permeate in and around me like the summer breeze.

  Everything went dark.